Mushroom Cloud: Accident or Test?

[gr8fuldaniel]

[SIZE=2]Accident or Test?[/SIZE]

Blast, Mushroom Cloud Reported in N. Korea Explosion Followed by Mushroom Cloud Reported in North Korea on Key Communist Regime Date ABC News The Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea Sept. 12, 2004 — A large explosion occurred in the northern part of North Korea, sending a huge column of smoke into the air on an important anniversary of the communist regime, a South Korean news agency reported Sunday. The South Korean government said it was trying to confirm the report of an explosion at 11 a.m. on Thursday in Yanggang province near the border with China.The Yonhap news agency carried conflicting reports from unidentified sources, with one in Washington saying the incident could be related to a natural disaster such as a forest fire. It also cited a diplomatic source in Seoul as raising the possibility of an accident or a nuclear test. Although North Korea is believed to be developing nuclear weapons, international experts would likely have been able to detect the test if one had occurred several days ago. "We understand that a mushroom-shaped cloud about 3.5- to 4-kilometer (2.2 miles to 2.5 miles) in diameter was monitored during the explosion," the source in Seoul told Yonhap. Yonhap described the source as "reliable." Thursday was the anniversary of North Korea's founding on Sept. 9, 1948. Leader Kim Jong Il uses the occasion to stage performances and other events to bolster loyalty among the impoverished North Korean population. Experts have speculated that North Korea might use a major anniversary to conduct a nuclear-related test, but one analyst said an open test, as opposed to one below ground, would be hard in such a small country. "It's difficult to say, but it won't be easy for North Korea to conduct a nuclear test without resulting in massive losses of its own people," said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert in Seoul. "I think there is a more possibility that it is a simple accident, rather than a deliberate nuclear test."

N Korea admits 'serious' accident BBC North Korea has broken its silence to confirm what it called a "very serious" train disaster at Ryongchon station near the Chinese border on Thursday. It is feared hundreds were killed and thousands hurt, but the state news agency gave no figures. Reporting from the scene, China's state news agency said 154 people, including many children, were known to have died. Aid workers and diplomats have gone to Ryongchon after a rare call for help from the secretive state.

[gr8fuldaniel]

One example of an "Other" might be an actual attack by an enemy of North Korea.

Another example may be Kim Jong Il Fireworks celebrating anniversary of North Korea's founding on Sept. 9, 1948. (3 days late)

[The Dunedan]

Powell is saying it was probably a fuel-air bomb, similar to our MOAB daisy-cutters. Various reports now are saying that nobody picked up any seismic signature, so it wasn't a nuke.

[Nono]

Seems the British government is going out of its way to play down speculation of a nuclear explosion. After all, it would be embarrassing (would it not?) if the North Koreans came out of the closet just when everyone was getting serious gut-ache from laughing about Iraqi WMDs.

On the other hand, just how many train wrecks and asteroid strikes can a country as small and poor as North Korea cough up?

[rcne]

I have heard that it was a shape charge test, supposedly thats one of the steps necessary in the procedure to develop nuclear arms.

'They' (no I don't recall who or where) looked at the blast hole and determined that the crater matched a shape charge test crater.

This is out of my range of knowledge so this is entirely speculation on my part. But if it was then it does support the continued development of nuclear weapons by North Korea.

[Zeebadee]

It was much too big for a shaped charge test. If it was a nuke test, would our own government want that information known?

[Nono]

Originally posted by Zeebadee If it was a nuke test, would our own government want that information known?

No it wouldn't. But other governments with the means to judge (Russians, Indians, French, etc.) would probably be only too happy to point out where the real WMD threat resides.

[Liberty Landing]

Gather up enough explosives and you can make a mushroom cloud easily. "Other" might also mean a show of force without the actual force, a bluff of immense magnitude.

[bishop]

i picked "other" because i don't know what happened exactly.. when these officials call it an "accident" they should clarify it with what type of accident it actually was.

in my opinion, completely unscientific at that, i feel like this was no accident. if anything, it represents a sign of things to come.