While you were sleeping

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  • neoee
    Platinum Poster
    • Jun 2004
    • 1266

    While you were sleeping

    Didn't see any comments on this. Thoughts?

    By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer

    SEOUL, South Korea - A huge mushroom cloud that reportedly billowed up from North Korea (news - web sites) was not caused by a nuclear explosion, South Korean and U.S. officials said Sunday, but they said the cause was a mystery.


    AP Photo



    Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) confirmed that unusual activity had recently been detected at some of North Korea's atomic sites, but said there was no concrete evidence the North's secretive communist regime was preparing for its first nuclear test explosion.


    The South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Sunday that a mammoth explosion in North Korea produced a mushroom cloud more than 2 miles across Thursday. It said the blast was stronger than an April explosion that killed 160 people and injured an estimated 1,300 at a North Korean railway station when a train carrying oil and chemicals apparently hit power lines.


    "There was no indication that was a nuclear event of any kind," Powell said of Thursday's incident. "Exactly what it was, we're not sure."


    Kim Jong-min, spokesman for the South Korean presidential office, told Yonhap: "Currently, we are trying to find out in detail the exact character, cause and size of the accident, but we don't think North Korea conducted a nuclear test."


    China's government, which has the closest relations with North Korea, had no immediate comment about the reported explosion.


    Before Yonhap's report, The New York Times' Sunday editions said senior U.S. intelligence officials had seen signs of activities that some analysts thought might indicate North Korea was preparing a nuclear bomb test. Other experts were more cautious in their assessments, but the developments were considered worrisome enough for the White House to be alerted, the Times said.


    Appearing on ABC's "This Week," Powell said there were "some activities taking place at some sites that we are watching carefully, but it is not conclusive that they're moving toward a test or they're just doing some maintenance at that site."


    Later, on "Fox News Sunday," Powell expressed skepticism North Korea would stage a nuclear test explosion.


    The North Koreans "know this would not be a sensible step for them to take," he said. "And it is not just the reaction that they might see in the United States; it's their own neighbors."


    On Saturday, North Korea said recent revelations that South Korea (news - web sites) conducted secret nuclear experiments involving uranium and plutonium made the communist state more determined to pursue its own nuclear programs.


    The South Korean experiments in 1982 and 2000, which the South said did not reflect an attempt to develop weapons, are likely to further complicate six-nation talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear development. Another round of talks involving the United States, Russia, Japan, China and the two Koreas is tentatively scheduled this month in Beijing.


    Washington is pushing for North Korea to fully disclose all of its nuclear activities and allow outside monitoring before it receives any assistance for its struggling economy. North Korea wants energy aid, an end to economic sanctions and removal from Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism.


    "North Korea is looking for assurances that we're not going to invade it, (that) we have no hostile intent," Powell said. "They're looking for benefits for giving up their nuclear capability and their nuclear infrastructure. And what we're debating is what will it take to give them the assurances they need and what benefits would they expect over the long haul."


    But, he said, the United States will not "reward them for doing something they should've have been doing in the first place. So we're into a very intense period of negotiations."


    Yonhap said the explosion occurred at 11 a.m. Thursday in Yanggang province near North Korea's border with China.


    "We understand that a mushroom-shaped cloud about 3.5 to 4 kilometers (2.1 to 2.5 miles) in diameter was monitored during the explosion," Yonhap quoted an unidentified diplomatic source as saying in Seoul, South Korea's capital.





    Yonhap said an unidentified South Korean official reported seismic activity related to two blasts in North Korea at 11 p.m. Wednesday and 1 a.m. Thursday. It said a source in China's capital said the explosion left a crater big enough to be seen by a satellite.

    Thursday was the anniversary of North Korea's founding on Sept. 9, 1948 ? a date North Korean leader Kim Jong Il uses to stage performances and other events designed to bolster loyalty among his countrymen.

    Experts have speculated North Korea might use such a major anniversary to conduct a nuclear-related test, but one analyst said an open-air test, as opposed to one below ground, would be difficult 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.
    The latest news and headlines from Yahoo News. Get breaking news stories and in-depth coverage with videos and photos.


    "The U.S. official said the cloud could be the result of a forest fire."


    Yeah, a 2 mile mushroom cloud and a crater from a forest fire.
    "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security." -Benjamin Franklin
  • Civic_Zen
    Platinum Poster
    • Jun 2004
    • 1116

    #2
    Re: While you were sleeping

    "The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." - Tacitus (55-117 A.D.)
    "That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves."
    - Thomas Jefferson

    Comment

    • Jenks
      I'm kind of a big deal.
      • Jun 2004
      • 10250

      #3
      I read they were leveling a mountian for construction of something.

      Skeptical, yes, but China, the US, all are saying it wasn't a nuke test. Guess we have to believe them until other proof surfaces, (like three headed fish.)

      Comment

      • devon
        Addiction started
        • Jun 2004
        • 362

        #4
        Re: While you were sleeping

        north korea has been digging underground for years. i bet some lab exploded under the mountain.

        nobody just blows shit up like that.
        i really wish the floor would stop moving!

        Comment

        • Balanc3
          Platinum Poster
          • Jun 2004
          • 1278

          #5
          Re: While you were sleeping

          the explosion is now being disputed by top intelligence officials who believe there is more to the story. I mean it takes one hell of a bomb to make a mushroom cloud that size. Compare it to MOAB. You remember that train wreck in N. Korea that derailed and they asked for humanitarian aid? Well there was more to that story as well.. the train was carrying Syrian military officials who were their to assist in transporting a shipment long range ballistic missiles into their country. These guys are not to trust.
          JourneyDeep .into the sound

          Comment

          • Jenks
            I'm kind of a big deal.
            • Jun 2004
            • 10250

            #6
            my hopes:

            The international community finds out they are testing nukes...

            then China, the US, Russia, and South Korea POUNCE on the North and break out the pimp hand for a serious dusting off.

            Whopish!

            Comment

            • Yao
              DUDERZ get a life!!!
              • Jun 2004
              • 8167

              #7
              Tsjernobyl II ??
              Blowkick visual & graphic design - No Civilization. Now With Broadband.

              There are but three true sports -- bullfighting, mountain climbing, and motor-racing. The rest are merely games. -Hemingway

              Comment

              • marektel
                Fresh Peossy
                • Sep 2004
                • 2

                #8
                Re: While you were sleeping

                If America admits that it was a nuke, they will be "honor bound" to do something about it. Such a development in the current political climate would not help Bush win the election.

                Thoughts?

                Marek

                Comment

                • toasty
                  Sir Toastiness
                  • Jun 2004
                  • 6585

                  #9
                  Re: While you were sleeping

                  Originally posted by marektel";p="
                  If America admits that it was a nuke, they will be "honor bound" to do something about it. Such a development in the current political climate would not help Bush win the election.
                  Bush has certainly backed himself into a spot where we really couldn't let that go, if it was a nuke. NK is part of the Axis of Evil, after all. As for the effect on the election, I think it will depend to some extent on whether Kerry jumps on it or not. Kerry has been kinda slow to take advantage of situations that could help him when they have been available.

                  Comment

                  • Jenks
                    I'm kind of a big deal.
                    • Jun 2004
                    • 10250

                    #10
                    Re: While you were sleeping

                    Originally posted by toasty";p="
                    Kerry is kinda slow

                    Comment

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