North Korea’s Nuclear Test Site Collapsing – Is This The Real Reason Kim Jong-un Halted Tests?

After a year of intense testing that allowed North Korea to proclaim that it could now manufacture a nuclear bomb, news comes that its main test site at Punggye-ri has collapsed. This collapse poses an "unprecedented risk" of radioactive fallout including in neighbouring China, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper reported.

The Hong Kong-based publication said on Wednesday that the collapse at Punggye-ri near the border with China "may" be the reason why North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared an immediate halt of its nuclear and missile tests.

A study by Chinese geologists has shown that the site has partially collapsed under the stress of multiple explosions, possibly rendering it unsafe for further testing and leaving it vulnerable to radiation leaks. The test site at Punggye-ri, in a mountainous area in North Korea’s north-east, has been the location for all six of the regime’s nuclear tests since 2006.

The BBC reports the latest research from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) is due to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, in the coming days. The Chinese university paper, written by Tian Dongdong, Yao Jiawen and Wen Lianxing, concluded that eight and a half minutes after September's test there was "a near-vertical on-site collapse towards the nuclear test centre". The paper also said that the nuclear test in September was followed by an “earthquake swarm” in similar locations. Professor Wen Lianxing, the lead author of the study, told the Wall Street Journal that the conclusion about the test site's viability would not be included in the published paper, but did not say why.

The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a second seismic event about eight minutes after the test, which it assessed as a "collapse" of the cavity. Two aftershocks were detected as late as December, prompting concerns about the stability of the surrounding mountains.

North Korea’s nuclear tests have caused earthquakes and frequent tremors in China’s border towns. The tests have sparked fears of wind-borne radiation which has led to a backlash among some Chinese against their country’s unpredictable traditional ally. Chinese authorities have said they’ve detected no radiation risk from the tests.

The Guardian paper reports that Kune Yull Suh, a professor of nuclear engineering at Seoul National University, warned last year that further tests could threaten to cause a volcanic eruption at Mount Paektu, which is about 100km away.

The news of the un-usability of  North Korea’s test site comes close on the heels of Kim Jong-un’s announcement that Pyongyang would close its nuclear testing facility and suspend nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests. The move was welcomed by U.S. president Donald Trump and comes ahead of a planned summit between the leaders this year but the latest news does call into question Kim’s sincerity toward the dialogue that the U.S. is proposing.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 26, 2018 09:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).