Given the rampant brinkmanship and testosterone-fuelled blustering that was the norm just a short while ago, this would explain a lot about recent developments.
Chinese scientists have concluded that North Korea's nuclear test site has partially collapsed, potentially rendering it unusable. The test site at Punggye-ri has been used for six nuclear tests since 2006. After the last, in September, a series of aftershocks hit the site, which seismologists believe collapsed part of the mountain's interior.
A one-page summary of the research on the USTC website concluded: "The occurrence of the collapse should deem the underground infrastructure beneath mountain Mantap not be used for any future nuclear tests." But those words do not appear in the final peer-reviewed paper. It instead says that the "collapse in the test site calls for continued close monitoring of any leaks of radioactive materials".
The research echoes similar findings by a team from the Jilin Earthquake Agency, published in the same journal last month. That team concluded that the explosion "created a cavity and a damaged 'chimney' of rocks above it", leading to a collapse.
On Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced he was suspending his country's nuclear and missile tests. The surprise declaration came ahead of historic talks with South Korea and the US.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43894394#
Except they can simply dig another one...
ReplyDeleteWell, that will depend on how much site infrastructure was damaged and if they have the resources to dig another one. I suspect they don't.
ReplyDeleteFor what I've read elsewhere, it seems to only be a cavity that crumbled, not threatening the integrity of the mountain itself nor the other structures, and apparently they were already digging a new hole recently.
ReplyDeleteThey probably have the resources anyway. They come from very, very low, but the North Korean economy has about 4% growth per year - since they decided to not tighten the screw on black market and let a de facto liberal economy of sorts appear...