Chinese geologists say North Korea nuclear test site collapsed, may explain end of program

Kim Hjelmgaard | USA TODAY

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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.

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The study has been peer-reviewed and also accepted for publication by Geophysical Research Letters, a distinguished academic journal published in the United States. A separate study published last month by the same journal found similar results.

On Saturday, President Trump hailed Kim's claim that he would close its nuclear testing facility and suspend nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests as "big progress." North Korea has stopped short of pledging it will entirely give up its nuclear weapons or scale back its production of missiles and their related components.

Friday's face-to-face meeting between Kim and Moon in the demilitarized border zone that has separated the rival Koreas since 1953 comes before Trump and the North Korean leader are expected to hold their own summit, likely in mid-May.



