NK goes up in smoke?

Gonz

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
Sunday September 12, 11:46 AM
Blast, Mushroom Cloud Reported in N. Korea

A large explosion occurred in the northern part of North Korea, sending a huge mushroom cloud into the air on an important anniversary of the communist regime, a South Korean news agency reported Sunday.

The Yonhap news agency, citing an unidentified source in Beijing, said the explosion happened Thursday in Yanggang province near the border with China. The explosion in Kim Hyong Jik county blasted a crater big enough to be noticed by a satellite, the source said.

"We understand that a mushroom-shaped cloud about 3.5 to 4 kilometers (about 2-2 1/2 miles) in diameter was monitored during the explosion," Yonhap quoted an unidentified diplomatic source in Seoul as saying.

North Korea was founded 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, though there was no immediate indication that Thursday's reported explosion was linked to Pyongyang's efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

Kim Hyong Jik is reported to hold a major missile base. North Korea, which has a large missile arsenal and more than 1 million soldiers, is dotted with military installations.

South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Sunday the government was in the process of confirming reports there were signs of an explosion in North Korea.

"I am not aware of details such as the size of the damage," he was quoted as saying by Yonhap after a National Security Council meeting.

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

The South Korean experiments, conducted in 1982 and 2000, were likely to further complicate the already stalled six-nation talks aimed at dismantling the North's nuclear development. South Korea has said the experiments were purely for research and did not reflect a desire to develop weapons.

On April 22, train wagons at a railway station exploded in the North Korean town of Ryongchon, killing 160 people and injuring an estimated 1,300, according to some estimates. The blast was believed to have been sparked by a train laden with oil and chemicals that hit power lines.

The source in the Yonhap report said Thursday's explosion reportedly was bigger than the train explosion.
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:utredeem:
 
Hey, Gato, my son just got back to the states (he was in Japan). Ironic if they brought him back from Japan just to deploy him to Korea. I know he's been to Korea a few times TDY. I've always been more worried about Korea (and India and Pakistan, you know unstable nuclear countries) than some of the rest of the country seems to be.
 
That could be because he's made noise for so long it's like a background din that is overlooked due to it's familiarity.

AP said:
SEOUL, South Korea - A huge explosion in the northern part of North Korea (news - web sites) sent a plume of smoke more than two miles wide into the air on an important anniversary of the secretive communist regime, a South Korean news agency reported Sunday. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said the explosion Thursday was not a nuclear test but that it was not known yet what caused it.

"There was no indication that was a nuclear event of any kind. Exactly what it was, we're not sure," Powell said on ABC's "This Week."
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What? You didn't have a signed color 8x10 faxed to you this morning?
 
chcr said:
[Conspiracy Theory]Unlikely, in my view. They just don't want to say.[/Conspiracy Theory]
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I've got to admit, I was thinking that same thing. :eek6: +

Like there aren't satellites up there that can zoom in on a dime. :lol2:
 
C.Powell said:
"North Korea is looking for assurances that we're not going to invade it, we have no hostile intent; 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," Powell said.


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."
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NK is paranoid and now they may very well be a nuclear nation...or pretty damn close to it. They say that they'll mothball their nuclear program in exchange for reassurances of non-hostility from the USA...

Who here actually believes that they'll mothball what amounts to several billion $s worth of research in exchange for a vow of non-hostility?

Not me....not with NK.
 
chcr said:
Well, on a quarter anyway. :D
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It could only be able to focus on a friggin' supertanker and I doubt that it'd miss something like this:

Nuclear%20Explosions%20%20Mushroom_jpg.jpg
 
MrBishop said:
NK is paranoid and now they may very well be a nuclear nation...or pretty damn close to it. They say that they'll mothball their nuclear program in exchange for reassurances of non-hostility from the USA...

Who here actually believes that they'll mothball what amounts to several billion $s worth of research in exchange for a vow of non-hostility?

Not me....not with NK.
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wait, it's coming back to me...yes, almsot got it.....it's on the tip of my tying fingers...GOT IT

1998 or so, Jimmy Carter, in place of Madeline Allnotsobright, at the order & behest of Bill Clinton, better know as Slick Willie in these parts, offered them mega-bucks & assurances if Junh Il would just stop it & play nicely.

He promised.

Jimmy went home all smug & selfsatisfied.
Madeline was still not Allnotsobright but thought she was the cats pajamas.
Bill got blown in celebration.

Jung Il lied.

We're not surprised.
 
Gonz said:
wait, it's coming back to me...yes, almsot got it.....it's on the tip of my tying fingers...GOT IT

1998 or so, Jimmy Carter, in place of Madeline Allnotsobright, at.....


...... the cats pajamas.
Bill got blown in celebration.

Jung Il lied.

We're not surprised.
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oooh, nice rant! :hump:
 
Well, which non-nuclear weapons can make a two-mile-wide mushroom cloud, and why would North Korea have those?
 
Inkara1 said:
Well, which non-nuclear weapons can make a two-mile-wide mushroom cloud, and why would North Korea have those?
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Some Av-gas bombs can do that (BLU-182), but I'm not sure NK has an equivalent.
 
Gonz said:
Neutron bomb?
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Nope...neutron bombs are good on living things, but not against buildings, and certainly not mountains.

Neutron bombs give off HUGE amounts of neutron and gamma radiation and minimal heat and blast (usually limited to only a few meters from the blast core). The heavy radiation doesn't have a long-term effect (like a microwave only keeping food hot for so long), doesn't have a huge range 50-75 miles radius.

It's the kind of bomb that you might use if you want to kill off everyone in a city but still want to use the buildings after the fact. Hell, you can move in withing weeks of the blast and not start growing extra arms or anything.

Useless against a mountain.

http://www.britannica.com/seo/n/neutron-bomb/
 
Ya know...someone should just call China and say "They're your neighbours, they're your problem....deal with it!"
 
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