Source-USA Today
Chinese geologists claim in a new study that the mountain above North Korea’s main nuclear test site collapsed in September, rendering the area unsafe for further testing because of possible radiation leaks — a finding that may shed a different light on Kim Jong Un’s announcement that his country was ceasing its nuclear testing program.
The study carried out by scientists at the University of Science and Technology of China, in Hefei, concluded that the mountain buckled under the stress of multiple explosions caused by the release of huge amounts of heat and energy. The study's authors said the area needs close monitoring for leaking radiation.
The data for the study were collected after North Korea's sixth — and most powerful — nuclear test on Sept. 3. It subsequently triggered four earthquakes.
The findings come ahead of Friday’s summit between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and follow Pyongyang's assertion last week it would halt all missile tests and shut down its main nuclear test site, a move interpreted outside North Korea as an attempt by Kim to strike a conciliatory tone at a time when he has come under White House-led pressure to give up his nuclear weapons program. Read more