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.