Originally appeared at Zero Hedge
North Korean nuclear scientists apparently ignored warnings from a group of Chinese colleaugues who briefed them back in September that the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site was slowly imploding following the country’s sixth nuclear test, which involved a 100-kiloton hydrogen bomb roughly seven times more powerful than the weapon dropped by the US on Hiroshima in 1945.
As Japanese TV station Asahi TV reported Tuesday, more than 200 North Koreans were killed earlier this month when several tunnels in the underground complex collapsed, killing more a crew of laborers and a crew of rescue workers sent to save them. As we’ve reported previously, scientists in the US, China and South Korea have warned that further tests at the site could blow the top off the mountain, causing it to collapse. Meanwhile, it could send a plume of radioactive particles into the atmosphere that could deleteriously impact population centers in Northern China and across the region.
Scientists detected a series of small earthquakes under Punggye-ri after the country’s Sept. 3 nuclear test. The seismic activity, combined with satellite images of landslides and depressions forming on the mountain’s surface, led a group of American scientists to declare that Punggye-ri was suffering from “tired mountain syndrome” – a condition previously observed at Soviet nuclear test sites. South Korea’s weather agency chief Nam Jae-Cheol told a meeting of the lawmakers Monday that any future nuclear test at the site could cause a collapse. One of the Korea Meteorological Administration researchers, Lee Won-Jin, presented an analysis of satellite images indicating landslides occurred near the facility following the September test.
The small-scale quakes at the facility, built south of the Mantapsan mountain, suggest it may not be stable enough to conduct any further tests. However, the construction of new underground tunnels in the complex would suggest the North – unwilling or unable to build an entirely new facility in a different location – has instead opted to move its tests to another area of the mountain.
“If North Korea were to attempt to continue testing under this mountain (such as in the area more to the eastern side), then we would expect to see new tunneling in the future near the North Portal, still under Mt. Mantap,” researchers Frank Pabian and Jack Liu wrote in a report published earlier this month.
Of course, the condition of the test site would be irrelevant if the North decides to follow through with a threat to conduct “an unprecedented scale hydrogen bomb” test over the Pacific. North Korean officials have insisted in recent weeks that these threats are serious. Perhaps the Kim regime has been so preoccupied assessing the damage at Pyungge-ri, where five of the North’s six nuclear tests held since 2006 have taken place, that it has been forced to put any future tests on hold.
Fearing a collapse, China has stepped up its radiation monitoring on the border. Meanwhile, a researcher studying the radioactive risk from the North Korean nuclear program at Peking University said China could no longer tolerate another land-based explosion.
“China cannot sit and wait until the site implodes. Our instruments can detect nuclear fallout when it arrives, but it will be too late by then. There will be public panic and anger at the government for not taking action,” the researcher said.
“Maybe the North Koreans themselves have realized that the site cannot take another blow. If they still want to do it, they have to do it somewhere else.”
North Korea would be a funny place, a communist Disneyland of funny parades and people on the news talking funny, if it weren’t for the actual people living there suffering. I’m opposed to war in Korea, as it would be catastrophic for everyone involved, the cure more terrible then the disease, but the regime of the Kims is as ruthless on its own people as it is batshit insane. It’s the one place on Earth, other then ISIS, or Al Qaida territory, that makes George Orwell’s 1984 society look better by comparison.
No offense but have you been there ?, do you know the history of the Korean war and what was done to them ?, do you know that they assist other deprived Countries with aid and support ?, do you personally know one person suffering ?.
We, myself included know sweet A about the Country, why just repeat the drivel you read (wherever you are), especially remembering Iraq was evil, the Libyan dictator was fruit cake that killed his own people as a sport and Assad is Satan ……
We listen, or read, or watch the daily rant about the Country and its citizens, but I would guess your knowledge is as limited as mine.
i dint be a member of maffia for the fact, i know, what are they.
kim must hang!
The most annoying thing about this troll is that you hardly understand what he is writing due to bad spelling and poor English. If you choose to be a troll by profession, at least do it well.
It is on purpose.
Solomon has a love/hate relatioship with the russians, he might have been married to a russian woman who traded him for rich guy, that is what I think… lol but I think he is not that bad also. :)
As for the subject. Yes, DPRK regime is terrible, but it wouldn’t be so terrible without all the sanctions and threats for its existence, the world should give them a chance. They are certainly better than Israel and KSA.
And, yes, taking in consideration what USA did to them in the past they are completely entitled to have nuclear weapons for self-defense.
Oh Bravo, I have him blocked so I can only imagine his retarded comment.
not spelling, mistypimg. so, you also dont speak english :D
Hanging wouldn’t solve anythinh, they probably have a substitute clone on the assembly line.
this is family clan. after stalin, mao, franco, pinochet, alexandros megas always came change.
I don’t know, if after Kim comes a leader who will just dump their nukes and accept all the demands of USA, then I would call him a traitor, plain and simple.
So, if Kim is ovethrown and DPRK gets another leader who is not some western stooge, he will keep the weapons program, and with that all the sanctions and military threats, and on that situation the population will continue paying the cost for having a truly sovereign country, so everything will stay the same.
i dont want americans in korea. i wish only oiberty for northkoreans
I’m sorry to say liberty is not an option on their circumstances, they can only choose between a dictator of their own, or to be ensalved by international powers, there is no 3rd alernative.
always is
So, do you think they would overthrow Kim for a new patriot leader that would magically keep the country’s ability to defend itseld AND be accepted by USA, not being threatened or sanctioned?
Or do you think they could give up their weapons and USA or China wouldn’t seize the moment to subdue them?
Don’t come to me with this “there is always hope” crap, you know that is fantasy.
like chuschev´s move against beriya
If you’re going counter my arguments you should at least answer me directly.
I’m anti-zionist, if you think the west is zionism so I’m anti west, if your definition of pro-west is being a zionist, then be my guest and call me anti-west.
There is absolutely no reason for this anti-DPRK histeria in USA government, DPRK will never, ever, nuke or attack South Korea or Japan unless they are attacked first, because they know they will be obliterated later, nevermind attacking USA. So it’s USA who is the aggressor here (as always), and this is an entirely artificial crisis, and it has been for a long time.
The solution for this crisis would be simply letting DPRK alone, USA could just say: “If you attack Japan or South Korea we will nuke you into oblivion.”, and that’s it, problem solved.
You’re wrong also about DPRK conventional capabilities, fact is USA has no plans about conventional war against them, if Zio-dog Mattis ever attacks them it is going to be nuclear, because through conventional weapons only DPRK has enough artillery to level Seul on the first hours of conflict, old cannons, new cannons, who cares, a cannon is a cannon.
Bottom of line, USA is asking for an excuse to start ww3 with China because petrodollar is coming to an end, DPRK is not the problem, USA is.
Don’t worry, I was never angry. I get your point.
but … there are still secret negotiations between Nk and USA
opposite! tillerson is trying
dude, yesterday i read this info somewhere in anglo-american msm world. but if you kill me, i dont remeber, where. try to google.
Well written. Fidel Castro was also suppose to be a monstrous dictator.I spent quite a few years in Cuba( not days, years..) and up to this day I still wonder if there is a different meaning to the term ” monstrous dictator”
so but let me get this clear….you say that NK is a good place to live?that people are happy there?
Well they will appreciated it better if they weren’t sanctioned for decades.
iran is sanctioned for decades……no hunger problems, no electricity shut down after 8pm no threatening the whole world with holocust. easy to blame others for your mistakes. Kim is a nutcase and so are the NKs.
Iran is a rare cases where their encirclement can’t be completed with Iraq and other in the region in shambles after constantly destabilized and the Persian gulf as a major oil trade hubs.
Iranian also have better vital oil resources which is not available to NK.
NK though is land locked and sea locked and they are sanctioned much more earlier (they have no military hardware that can be called modern unlike Iran that have some of them after shah era). A good similarities would be Cuba where automobile remained some pre sanctions era.
By the way NK once tried to comply with the US demands in curbing their nuclear weapons development in exchange of easing sanctions
Here http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/07/18/nkorea.iaea/
Here’s the latest article about this
https://thesaker.is/reporting-from-korea-during-the-2013-crisis-5-key-facts-the-west-ignores/
NK is in no way land locked…..first all china is NKs ally and it has many roads available to establish trade, but the Nks lunatics decided that food is not essential so they imported nuclear tech and scientists from ukraine. its all about what you choose to do!!!Cuba suffered from the embargo indeed.its was not fair to pay for the missile crisis after 10000 years. that was a shame for western world. Also Cuba never threatened anyone…..
NK is land locked. Both Russia and China did not feel it was needed to empower the NK due to volatility of their relationship with SK while SK remain a mutually beneficial partner in economical side of things. I figured that even they acquired the necessary technology/technically knowledgeable enough to catch up they have no vital resources to do so due to their sanctions.
NK is sea locked. Look up the NK legal sea territory and then Japan and SK.
I repeat this Russia and China have no interest in empowering NK and would keep the currently international sanctions up as long as it is within their interest to do so since they can easily bypass this embargo and sanctions while both of them very much interested in facilitating them peace agreement.
In short they have allies backing them up is an illusion while the SK and US keep demonstrated how they would go smack them around (by design would be decap strikes to neutralize the command and its government though i don’t believe it will ever end as advertised).
Thing is they are by no means a suicidal maniac who seek to die in a blaze of glory and by no means will initiated something that will end themselves.
maybe you are right about china not ’empowering’ NK but in other ways i guess help was provided…humanitarion for example…….as for the last thing you mentioned…..i agree that Kim is not suicidal…..in fact no dictator is. all that they think of is how to prolong their regime. so they will not strike first they will just provoke and go on provoking for 100 years if they can. the thing is that an accident may occur.if you launch a missile and the missile accidentally hits ,lets say a japanese village, since we are talking about ballistic missiles, whole hell will break loose. thats my point…..you make threats that you yourself know you will never fulfill…..but an error, or luck of patience on the other end will prove fatal…..take the 6 day Israeli – egyptian war for example…..totally the same situation……president Nasser was carried away by the love of his people, by the cheers he received from the crowds that gathered to listen to him….his speaches were full of hate for Israel he seemed to be certain of its being erased from the map…….Israel lost its paience waiting for the inevitable war…..a war that Nasser wasnt even prepared for…..the rest is history…..
That’s right they just honestly trying to survive. My point is there’s no guarantee that US would abide by it’s promise even if they enter negotiations and competing with them in conventional warfare is unrealistic.
If the war broke out both country will suffer unimaginable destruction however the US seemingly simply don’t care about it.
thats were you are wrong…..US cares and cares a lot…..it cant handle a nuclear war.even a small scale one….the effects will be devastating…..US has invaded 1000s of countries for minor or fake reasons. why hesitate against a regime that US has huge military superiority….because of the nukes. SK will become a parking lot, japan and US coast will be hit by nuclear missiles……a holocaust that we have avoided during the cold war ,will become true. who will take such a decision?
My point. NK will never initiate the war. They will refine and mastering their nuclear force until it can threaten USA before sit down in another negotiations table. They’ve tried surrendering their nuclear development once yet the US don’t fulfill their promise.
This dangerous conditions created by US cornering the DPRK.
There are a lot of past history where the country surrender their chemical/nuclear weapons yet in the end still get invaded by US so their refusal in abandoning the program is not illogical.
Your argument may point at the reckless action of the Kim dynasty of DPRK that endangered their entire population but here’s the thing. SK as well as NK or Japan remain endangered as a whole so long they don’t have military sovereignty. SK and Japan remain occupied by foreign military that act inconsistent with their population interest and need.
Point.
THAAD deployment.
Okinawan Air Bases.
Military ports
Etc etc.
It would be much better if the US didn’t constantly used their military power in every friction they’d find and keep engaged in diplomacy and negotiations.
‘occupied’ is a strong word. in the case of sk the US forces there guarantee that they will get involved in any small or large scale incident with NK. Japan has US bases because it lost the war. Ever since they became allies with NATO and welcome their military help. Lets not forget that Japan manufactures its own f-16, f-14s ,almost same design but with japanese modifications. now the relationship between the countries is mutually beneficial.On the other hand i think Kim is USs puppet….they use his threat to sell weapons to the main players in the area. Japan ,SK and all minor potential targets. every once in a while they raise the tension just to keep the weapons flow high to the region. simple as that….thats another reason why US will not do anything, the initial step. NK is useless concerning resources so the only useful think they can provide is a ‘threat’.
It is what it was. Occupied.
The foreign military sit on their territories and do things that did not benefit or in the interest of their population and the population can’t do anything about it.
Did you know ? SK military is on the command of USA in the event of conflict.
My point still stand. SK and Japan should have sovereignty in first and foremost their defense policy before anything else. They ‘could’ negotiate peace agreement between themselves involving ‘only’ themselves and for the ‘benefit’ of themselves. Why it couldn’t happen ? Because US has something else in it’s mind.
Both Japan and South Korea economically capable to sustain and develop their own military power even without US protection yet even now their government have to pay the cost of their bases in their territory even have to act in line with them even if it damage their relationship with their own strategic partner.
They would be more credible if the US didn’t constantly using their military power but it did. If there’s a major escalation initiated by either Russia, China, or US they don’t stand a chance in nuclear exchange while both of them have no benefit in regarding their conflict.
Read the link i given you again if you don’t understand why the NK did what it did.
Nk and Sk are still in a state of war !no peace treaty has been signed ,so yes the status quo of the war era still stands (US has the military command). anyway without the US and other allies SK would not exist today .see what happened to vietnam when US left. so its a price they have to pay for their freedom .
Vietnam is exist for all it’s worth and their government are at least able to choose which country they could get along with depending on their era. SK and Japan by all means capable to rebuilt their own country even without US help. This just another US nation building myth all over again.
“threatening the whole world with holocaust”..Kim never threatened the world…Typical Fking brainwashed idiot. the snick false info anywhere they can
so you mean if Kim hits the US coast or Japan it wont be a nucleaar holocaust?radiation will not spread worldwide?so we have no problem then?even if thats the case…..killing a couple of million souls is ok for you?or is it all false info, Kim is a saint , and all the world bullies him?share the knowledge please…..
I am not saying anything as I haven’t been there, but I have read up how they have given foreign aid in food parcels and doctors to many African Countries ….. similar to Cuba.
they suffered from hunger themselves…all these are just propaganda for the rest of the world. if you find a picture of a NK citizen who has the normal weight you get 1999999$. the main problem is that noone has ever ‘been there’. its a prison. cant get in cant get out. if you get in probably you will never be allowed to exit. so simple.
Thy are Asian – how many fat or big Asian people are there ?.
https://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2015_41/1257886/151011-nk-parade-jsw-01_3c3b46c87722bc6b9d5a71dcf50eb556.nbcnews-ux-2880-1000.jpg
didnt say fat…..i said normal weight….their waists is 12cm in perimeter!!found this easily…https://humanpains.com/tag/north-korea-famine/
I repeat – they are Asian.
Thing is..You dont know and I dont know..simple as that
no its not simple as that…..nowadays people dont rely on their own experience to have an opinion…..you dont buy a phone first and then see what it does….you live in the time of huge amount of info available…..everywhere .:library, television ,internet you choose. you have people that managed to get inside NK and get photos, NKs who escaped and gave info…..cant ignore all that by just saying ‘i wasnt there to know’. a very simplistic way to close your mind to the outer world.
Well if that is true, how come the Yanks didn’t know about NK building nukes before hey fired one.
Remember Libya, Iraq, Syria and so on, they played the same propaganda trick on them; we do not know diddly about them; simple as that.
i agree that in the case of Libya etc it was all fake evidence. just wanted to invade get the oil and they needed an excuse….but NK advertises the nukes !and kim threatens to launch them !against US territory…..well what else do yo want?is this fake news?propaganda?of course not.if it was china or Russia would say so. they would give a statement “NK has never threatened anyone” and thats it. UN would not sunction NK on false evidence . …i think….but anyway…..Kim plays with fire. a real dictator, in my opinion.
If you don’t mind me saying, whilst people are focussed on oil and blah blah; they “Can’t see the wood for the trees “.
*** Libya wanted to get rid of the Petrodollar and instigate a gold dinar currency throughout Africa to trade O&G.
*** Libya did not have a Rothschild’s central bank.
*** Libya rejected the American democracy model.
Without this ridiculous central bank and money pyramid farce, the New World government is a non-starter …..
Please take a few minutes to look at these links; download them as they are being deleted slowly but surly………
https://www.globalresearch.ca/we-re-going-to-take-out-7-countries-in-5-years-iraq-syria-lebanon-libya-somalia-sudan-iran/5166
http://humansarefree.com/2016/11/only-3-countries-left-without.html
and if you go through the US history and track the International wars, you may see a few links opening …..
Without the PRIVATELY OWNED Rothschild’s central banks, the US and European ++ many other Counties economies will collapse.
WE are living in a PONZI SCHEME.
dont forget that iraq in Saddams last months of rule there was a thought or a decision to change currency in oil selling business. They would not use us dollar any more…….
Agreed.
Saddam => Euros
Gadiifi => Gold dinar
Assad => Euros or any local currency
Venezuela => Euros (sorry I cannot remember the President at the time)
plus,pus
If you have a spare half hour, please watch this (I needed to watch it twice) – and maybe the other parts of the hole thing ……….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLE88E9ICdiphYjJkeeLL2O09eJoC8r7Dc&time_continue=647&v=iFDe5kUUyT0
its obvious that whoever wants to change from $$ to anything else, in the oil business, is automatically dangerous to mankind since he is a dictator, he has chemical weapons he funds terrorists ,he oppresses his citizens and ‘we will bring democracy to his country’…..us demcracy =chaos and devastation
So let me make this more clear – I said now inferred no such thing.
I was saying, we are all talking out of ars3s, because we do not know.
God bless freedom of press ,God bless the internet……WE KNOW if we want to.
Most of us who comment here are against US foreign policy. When the US says A, we automatically assume B, because we mistrust them. But I see a lot of people here who mistake that just because a country opposes US foreign policy they are automatically good guys. They say that of Iran, they say that of North Korea. However the enemy of my enemy is not my friend, just the enemy of my enemy.
No I’ve not been to North Korea. I’ve read and watched as much information as I can though and even the most neutral observers say its not a nice place. Not by a long shot. I’ve been however to Iran, three times, so I can tell the press bullshit from the truth in regards to that country. And even though that country is as much vilified by the US government as North Korea, it gets nowhere near the same bad press as North Korea does. And even if 50% of the bad press of North Korea is false, that STILL makes it the shittiest place to live in in the world. Except maybe certain war torn parts of the Congo. The shit you read coming from there makes you want to lose all hope for humanity.
OK, we agree to disagree.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmzo0Ln-kKc
Poor souls, poor their families.
But did this actually happen? We can believe the report coming from one Japanese TV station of unknown credibility?
NK outlawed income tax and tax returns 40 years ago:
“Direct taxes, such as income tax, were officially eliminated in 1974 as “remnants of an antiquated society””
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_North_Korea
so?
Most people don’t like taxes and tax returns. Do you?
i dont want t trade my freedom and wellbeing for no taxes!i prefer to have 19999 tv channels, supermarkets full of useless stuff, 3 cars ,a big house that if i dont like i have the right to demilish and build a new one….etc etc etc…..i love western way of life, democracy, civilization…..i also love the internet……what do NKs have in return of notax policy?anything from the above?or just electricity shut down after 8pm.?nothing in life is free.on the contrary all the good stuff are expensive….especially freedom coms at a great price….democracy is expensive as well.
You didn’t answer the question.
we ll i think i did…nothing is free in this world…..everything comes with a price tag…so the answer is yes i dont want to pay taxes….but i dont live in the stone age so…..
Do you think that part of the curb on human and civil rights by the NK government are the result of US regime change efforts and the subversion of a peace treaty as defensive policies? And do you support a double standard for democracies to restrict freedoms, like placing orientals in concentration camps like was done in the US, and restricting immigration from Muslim nations, but it’s not ok for non democratic governments to restrict human and civil rights for defensive purposes?
compare NK and Cuba.similar cases different types of policies. US placed Japanese citizens in concentration camps during the war, in fact that was done after US entered the war. NK is not on war and its restricting- oppressing its own citizens. restricting immigration from nations in general is sometimes wise ,in case for example from nations that officially support terrorism. how is restricting human and civil rights helping your defence?putting citizens in jail for no reason helps the defence?
You didn’t answer the questions.
“Do you think that part of the curb on human and civil rights by the NK government is the result of US regime change efforts and the subversion of a peace treaty as defensive policies?”
and
“And do you support a double standard for democracies to restrict freedoms, like placing orientals in concentration camps like was done in the US, and restricting immigration from Muslim nations, but it’s not ok for non democratic governments to restrict human and civil rights for defensive purposes?”
1)it is a result of course but its the way NK chose. thats why i said compare it with Cuba…..you have a problem….there are many solutions to choose from…NKs regime chose the oppression of its own people.
2)US was on war. maybe i disagree with the way US handled Japanese citizens but it was war. Restricting immigration is correct since Muslims cant integrate with western civilisation. sad but true. they create only trouble wanting Sharia law everywhere….its not right to put every muslim in the same basket. But the situation in Europe now is the evidence for what i say. restricting human and civil rights of your own people for defensive purposes is called fascism and i cant even begin to see how this helps your defence anyway. im repeating what i said above but you didnt seem to understand what i said….in general oppression is a huge mistake takes us back to the middle ages, creates fanatics
If the US wasn’t preparing war and trying to overthrow the NK government then the NK government could provide more civil liberties without having to worry about them being misused for subversion and regime change against them. Which is probably what would happen.
Question #2 wasn’t about war, it was about a double standard of democratic vs non democratic rights restrictions. Should democracies have an exemption from criticism for rights violations and restrictions but non democratic should not? That appears to be your position and is hypocritical if it is.
Most people consider taxation to oppressive, it’s what lead to the American Revolution against the British. NK has outlawed this.
1)all these that you mention are called DEMOCRACY and arent as bad as you think.
2)you insist on not understanding what i say. US was on war. had to deal with japanese citizens who were considered traitors or spys . not the right way but it was war. criticism is the right of every free person in a democracy. if you disagree with the NK regime you simply have a death wish. do you understand the difference?
3)taxation . do you want public free schools? do you want health care?free? do you want roads for your car? do you want police,firefighters? who pays them? the state…..what is the states income taxation…otherwise…..communism….you have everything for ‘free’ that is provided by the state but you dont own anything since you work for the state and the state gives you facilities instead of cash…..well i think that its bvious that communismm has failed……capitalism has great flows but survives still……a mix is better ,china tries this we’ll see how it goes
This doesn’t make sense:
“1)all these that you mention are called DEMOCRACY and arent as bad as you think.”
The US wars are unnecessary Jew fabrications. It is the US following a policy of subverting a peace treaty and Korean reconciliation that is following the wrong policy. If the US supported the right policy the NK could lighten up on some of the restrictions put in place to counter Jewmerican aggression and evil.
NK and the US both have the same problem, evil Jews.
finally we agree. on comment….US needs NK as it needed iraq, serbia, libya, etc etc in the past. you cant have good without evil you see. yin yang. if you run out of enemies (fall of USSR) what will all these weapons-soldiers-factories do?so NK serves the purpose of ‘evil’ for the US.