Unification Minister Answers in National Assembly

Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young attended the meeting of National Assembly’s Unification, Diplomacy, and Defense Committee on September 14, and said that the ministry is attentively observing and speculating upon other possibilities on the cause of the Yanggang explosion in North Korea last week.

In response to the questions posed by the legislators, Chung said that even though the explosion can be a result of the demolition of a mountain for the construction of a hydroelectric power plant as North Korea has explained, North Korea did not release any information about it prior to the incident. North Korea usually reports every commencement of large-scale construction projects. The ministry will thoroughly review and examine the incident in order to verify North Korea’s explanation, Chung said.

The exact cause of the explosion is likely to be revealed today or tomorrow, when Arirang 1 satellite and U.S. military satellites photograph the explosion site in Kim Hyeong-jik County, Yanggang Province.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said in a meeting with journalists before the Cabinet meeting on September 14 at Cheong Wa Dae that we will be able to see the blasted area once the satellite takes picture today, after the clouds in the North Korean sky are lifted.

Arirang 1 satellite photographed the explosion site yesterday morning, however, it is reported that due to heavy clouds, the pictures cannot be verified.

Jung-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com