TNHarley
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- Sep 27, 2012
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Experts doubt N. Korea nuke test site collapse claims
Experts have cast doubt on Chinese scientists' claims that North Korea's main underground nuclear test site has been rendered unusable after collapsing due to a massive blast last year.
A study by seismologists from the University of Science and Technology of China suggested rock had collapsed under Mount Mantap in the country's northeast after a nuclear test in September that triggered a 6.3-magnitude earthquake.
An English-language abstract by the study authors in another section of the university's website concluded: "The occurrence of the collapse should deem the underground infrastructure beneath mountain Mantap not be used for any future nuclear tests."
But Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of Strategic Studies tweeted Thursday: "The mountain did not collapse and there is no evidence that it is unusable."
"I checked an image from @planetlabs dated April 25. The mountain is still there," quipped Lewis.
Ahead of a hotly awaited inter-Korean summit on Friday, the North's leader, Kim Jong Un, declared he would shut down the Punggye-ri testing site, which includes Mount Mantap.
Skeptics have said it was an empty concession by Kim as the site is already suffering from "tired mountain syndrome" and may be obsolete.
But Lewis noted that while the explosion did cause a cavity to collapse, "this does not mean the tunnel complex below the mountain is ruined."
Would China lie though?
Experts have cast doubt on Chinese scientists' claims that North Korea's main underground nuclear test site has been rendered unusable after collapsing due to a massive blast last year.
A study by seismologists from the University of Science and Technology of China suggested rock had collapsed under Mount Mantap in the country's northeast after a nuclear test in September that triggered a 6.3-magnitude earthquake.
An English-language abstract by the study authors in another section of the university's website concluded: "The occurrence of the collapse should deem the underground infrastructure beneath mountain Mantap not be used for any future nuclear tests."
But Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of Strategic Studies tweeted Thursday: "The mountain did not collapse and there is no evidence that it is unusable."
"I checked an image from @planetlabs dated April 25. The mountain is still there," quipped Lewis.
Ahead of a hotly awaited inter-Korean summit on Friday, the North's leader, Kim Jong Un, declared he would shut down the Punggye-ri testing site, which includes Mount Mantap.
Skeptics have said it was an empty concession by Kim as the site is already suffering from "tired mountain syndrome" and may be obsolete.
But Lewis noted that while the explosion did cause a cavity to collapse, "this does not mean the tunnel complex below the mountain is ruined."
Would China lie though?