- SEOUL (Reuters) - A huge
explosion rocked North Korea near the border with China three days ago,
producing a mushroom cloud that sparked speculation Pyongyang might have
tested an atomic weapon, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.
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- The South Korean agency said the blast on Thursday in
Kimhyungjik county in Ryanggang province appeared much bigger than a train
explosion that killed at least 170 people in April.
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- South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young sought
to play down an atomic link, telling South Korean reporters after a National
Security Council meeting that Seoul's assessment so far was the explosion
was unlikely to have been part of the communist North's nuclear arms ambitions.
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- "There are some foreign media reporting such possibilities,
but we are judging at the moment the explosion is unrelated to such reports,"
Yonhap quoted him as saying. Chung chairs the National Security Council,
which advises President Roh Moo-hyun.
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- There was no immediate reaction from neighboring China.
In Washington, a U.S. official said it was unclear what had happened and
there were various possible explanations. Tokyo took a similar line.
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- "We've heard the report, and we are checking the
details, including what's in the report itself," said Japanese Foreign
Ministry spokesman Akira Chiba.
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- Thursday was the 56th anniversary of North Korea's founding.
The reclusive communist state often stages extravaganzas and big events
to mark important anniversaries.
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- South Korean intelligence officials said they were monitoring
the news, but declined detailed comment on the reports, which were based
on "informed sources" in Beijing and in Seoul. Yonhap did not
give a description of the blast site.
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- ACCIDENT OR TEST?
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- The reports surfaced as South Korea, Japan, China, Russia
and the United States were seeking to persuade North Korea to return to
the negotiating table to discuss its nuclear weapons ambitions. The North,
which threatened at earlier talks to test an atomic bomb, has said it doubts
more negotiations will help.
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- "There were rumors that the explosion was much bigger
than the one at Ryongchon train station and the United States is showing
a big interest as the blast was seen from satellites," Yonhap quoted
an unnamed source in Beijing as saying. Continued ...
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- © Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
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