N Korea blasts confirmed

2004-09-17 11:10

Moscow - At least three explosions went off in North Korea last week as part of a dam-building exercise near the border with China, an unnamed Russian diplomat who the visited the secretive country told Russia's state-controlled RIA Novosti news agency.

The Russian diplomat also said a further explosion was due to take later this month as North Korea attempts to construct a dam in the rugged Kimhyungjik county, near its border with China.

He said two of the earlier explosions took place on September 8, and one the following day.

Suspicions first rose that a nuclear test could have taken place after reports that a massive mushroom cloud was kicked up in an area known to have contained storage sites for missiles and explosives.

North Korea then took the unprecedented step of rushing foreign diplomats to the scene.

Russia is considered to be one of the countries with closest diplomatic ties to North Korea.

South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun is to visit Russia next week for talks on curbing North Korea's nuclear weapons drive, and trans-Siberian railway links.

The claim contrasted sharply with that by South Korea, which said on Friday that it believed there was no explosion in its northern neighbour.

"We suspect there was no blast at all at the site where intelligence authorities originally thought there were indications of a blast," said Vice Unification Minister Lee Bong-Jo.

Lee told reporters that an earth tremor and what had been referred to as mushroom-like clouds, were not the result of an explosion at the site in a remote area of North Korea.

- AFP