North Korea explosion ‘deliberate detonation of a mountain’
The reclusive communist regime was responding to a request for information from British Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell, who is visiting Pyongyang. The explosion on Thursday produced a mushroom-shaped cloud more than two miles in diameter.
The magnitude and timing of the blast, which coincided with the 56th anniversary of North Korea’s founding, raised concern it might be the result of a nuclear test. But South Korean and US officials said on Sunday that it did not appear to be the case, adding they were still trying to ascertain the cause of the cloud.
In an interview with the BBC, Mr Rammell said North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun told him “that it wasn’t an accident, that it wasn’t a nuclear explosion, that it was a deliberate detonation of a mountain as part of a hydroelectric project”.
Mr Rammell said he welcomed the explanation but urged North Korea to let officials verify the information.
Later, the North Korean government told Britain’s ambassador, David Slinn, he can visit the site as soon as today.
The invitation has surprised senior diplomats, who had said the regime was certain to refuse because the blast happened in an area of strictly restricted access. Mr Rammell praised the decision.
“Having asked the vice-Foreign Minister this morning for our ambassador and other ambassadors to be allowed to visit the scene of the explosion I am very pleased North Korea has agreed to the visit,” he said.
“We will look into whether that area is an area for constructing a power plant,” Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told the National Assembly in Seoul.
Mr Chung said the large cloud was confirmed by satellite pictures. But he said that at the time, there were clouds over the Korean Peninsula and it was difficult to tell what caused it.
The blast was stronger than the explosion in April that killed 160 people and injured an estimated 1,300 at a railway station.
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