I Wondered About That
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.
On Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced he was suspending his country’s nuclear and missile tests.
The last North Korean test was so much more powerful than any of the previous tests that many people believe that it was a hydrogen (fusion) bomb, not an atomic (fission) bomb. The other difference was the series of aftershocks that were thought to be collapses of the tunnel complex in which the tests took place.
The bottom line is that Kim Jong-Un may have decided to announce a pause in testing to cover for the reality that his test facility was destroyed by the last test.
Update: Mea culpa – in the initial post I had fission and fusion reversed.
6 comments
Apparently his uranium reprocessing facility for extracting plutonium out of irradiated uranium was also located in that complex of tunnels and got destroyed in the collapse. So it’s a “oh f*** it” move at the moment. Until he gets that all rebuilt he can’t do anything anyhow, so why not?
He may have also lost key people who were monitoring the test. Mountains by definition occur on fault lines, so setting off large explosions under mountains is a rather dangerous decision to begin with. This is like my telling people that I decided to give the other runners a chance and won’t enter the Boston marathon. 😉
Of course, Dotard is claiming credit for it all. And apparently demands a Nobel Peace Prize for it. He’ll probably get one. The prize is worthless now anyway. *shrug*
Trump brags of winning North Korea negotiations that have not happened yet while bashing ‘Failing New York Times’ headline on Twitter
I’m not a Korean area expert, but I would guess that replacing the rabid anti-Kim President of South Korea with a President who wants to start talks with North Korea was a big reason the talks took place, despite Trump’s tantrums.
I suspect that, as well as the loss of their nuclear test/research facility, they are broke. SK is wealthy. A no brainer really. *shrug*
I can see a North and South Korea agreement as a possibility, but Trump isn’t going to get a real deal because Kim knows he lies. Kim gets the prestige of the meeting, but doesn’t really need to agree to anything.