The Scene of the Explosion: A Perspective from Dandong

“There was a deafening noise as if the earth were being split in two, and black smoke rose up to spread over the area around Yongcheon Station.”

On April 23, the day after the massive explosion at North Korea’s Yongcheon Station, witnesses in the Chinese border city of Dandong were still reeling from the shock.

Dandong is less than 20km away from Yongcheon Station. Despite its proximity to the scene of the accident, the city exhibited few signs of the disaster that struck down thousands of lives. Trucks carrying various goods headed for North Korea as usual. Even day trips to North Korea by tourists continued to take place, locals attested.

However, North Korean and ethnic Korean (or Josun) businessmen that travel regularly between North Korea and China said in their accounts of the accident that “the North is keeping a tight lid on the facts of the explosion.”

The Moment of the Blast—

Noon, April 22, some nine hours after a train bearing Chairman Kim Jong-il had passed through Yongcheon Station on his way back from a Chinese tour (April 19~21).

Chairman Kim’s train had already come and gone, and staff members at Yongcheon Station had just emerged from their nerve-wracking “state of emergency.” The station manager was busy issuing orders to relocate freight trucks, removed from the station proper to make way for the VIP train, back into the station.

Then, total chaos suddenly descended on the town of Yongcheon. With an ear-splitting blast, a freight train loaded with LP gas went up in a ball of fire and black smoke.

The explosion was powerful enough to send debris soaring high into the sky, and away over the Shinuiju area, some 16km away to the northwest.

Around the station, store buildings and apartment complexes crumbled, with all their windows blown out from the shock waves. Four buildings, including an adjacent Department of National Security building and a schoolhouse, were completely destroyed. The schoolhouse was located roughly 200~300km from the station; a large number of students and nearby pedestrians were buried in the rubble, and yellow dust covered the sky.

The residential area around Yongcheon Station was hell itself. Witnesses stated that some of the inhabitants who had rushed out of their homes at the noise thought that a war had started. Bloody injuries and casualties could be spotted all over town.

It was like looking on the site of a recent carpet bombing.

Yongcheon Station behind Barricades—

The trans-border train between China and North Korea arrived at Dandong Station at 7:00 a.m. that day. Under normal circumstances, it would go on to Shinuiju by way of the Yalu River Bridge at 9:30 a.m. or so, but today it lingered in Dandong for a while before departing for North Korea.

“The train crossing the Yalu River made a detour toward the Baekma Labor District in Pihyon, instead of going through Yongcheon,” a merchant in Dandong said.

Perhaps due to the accident, the traffic between Dandong and Shinuiju has also tapered off. The scene contrasted starkly from the normal one of vehicles lining the roads in anticipation of the weekend. There were noticeably fewer pedestrians as well.

Managing the Aftermath—

The North Korean government declared a state of emergency immediately following the explosion and embarked on efforts to cope with the situation. The area around Yongcheon was blockaded, and international phone lines were shut down.

North Korean media are keeping a strict silence regarding the accident. Chairman Kim’s Chinese visit and the founding of a “Kim Jong Suk Education and Cultural Research Center” in Mexico were the only major news items on the air.

The injured were moved to a nearby hospital, but the shortage of medical equipment and transportation slowed down the process. As soon as news of the explosion hit, China extended its willing support to the North Korean government. The hospitals in Dandong are ready to accommodate the overflow of patients from North Korea, but the latter has yet to issue a response.

yshwang@donga.com