Blast occurs near possible uranium enrichment site

A HUGE blast in North Korea hit a mountainous area close to an underground missile base that was listed as a possible uranium enrichment site, it emerged yesterday.

South Korean and US officials have said the explosion last week at Kimhyungjik county near North Korea’s border with China was unlikely to have been a nuclear weapons test, although no definitive explanation has been put forth.

Kimhyungjik county is home to the Yongjori missile base, an underground facility thought to hold missiles and launchers, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) database.

The county lies in Ryanggang province, a remote and sparsely populated region which Western defence experts believe houses key military sites. It is off-limits to outsiders, including aid agencies.

South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said the blast site was six miles southwest of the Yongjori missile base and 18 miles from the Chinese border. The explosion took place 4,900 feet above sea level, it said.

Kimhyungjik county is named after leader Kim Jong-il’s grandfather and sits right on the border with China.

Yongjori base, which lies about 12 miles from the Chinese border, consists of a dozen tunnels for storing, deploying and launching medium-range missiles that are capable of hitting Japan, NTI said.

The NTI website, which lists known or suspected weapons sites in North Korea and other countries, cites testimony by a North Korean defector as saying 12 tunnels at the base could hold 36 missiles.

The base, run by the missile division of North Korea’s National Defence Commission, is one of three locations where North Korean plants are suspected of enriching uranium.

“It is unclear whether US officials have identified a separate facility in Yongjori dedicated to uranium enrichment, or if the site previously identified as a missile base is a uranium enrichment facility,” says the NTI website.

North Korea’s suspected secret programme to enrich uranium for weapons was the catalyst for a two-year diplomatic standoff with the US and regional powers. North Korea denies it has such a program.

A Western diplomat in Seoul said it was too early to draw a conclusion on the blast, but suggested several possibilities.

The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it could have been a periodic missile engine test which went wrong or may have been connected to suggestions of North Korean experimentation with high explosives in preparation for a nuclear weapon.

“On the other hand, this could be another huge industrial accident.”