South Korea's National Intelligence Service told a parliamentary committee that North Korea's explanation for a large explosion near the Chinese border last week could be credible. The agency said the blast in Ryanggang province, which reportedly sent up a distinctive cloud, may have been preparation for a hydroelectric dam in Kimhyungjik county.
Satellite images from South Korea's Arirang-1 spacecraft were released publicly but proved too low-resolution to resolve the matter. Officials in Seoul and Washington set aside nuclear test theories, though they said Pyongyang's account left open questions, including why large-scale excavation would be carried out at night given the country's persistent electricity shortages.
British Ambassador to North Korea David Slinn was set to lead envoys from seven other countries, including Germany, Sweden, and Russia, to the remote site on Thursday, a journey of roughly four hours by air and road combined.
North Korea's state media accused Seoul of using the incident to deflect attention from South Korea's own nuclear record. The charge followed an International Atomic Energy Agency statement expressing concern over South Korean scientists having conducted unauthorized uranium enrichment and plutonium experiments dating to the 1980s.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in September 2004, in its own words.