NKorea blast unlikely to have been nuclear

SEOUL – A huge explosion rocked North Korea last week but United States and South Korean officials said yesterday it was unlikely to have been a nuclear weapons test despite the appearance of a “peculiar cloud” over the area.

South Korea first got indications of the blast from a satellite, but it was too early to say whether it was a bomb, a senior South Korean official told Reuters. The blast probably occurred between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.”The weather overall at the time was cloudy but there was a peculiar cloud, a cloud that was different from any other,” said the official, who asked not to be identified.”We cannot confirm whether it had the characteristics of a mushroom cloud.”South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the blast in Kimhyungjik county in Ryanggang province in the northeast near the border with China appeared much stronger than a train explosion that killed at least 170 people in April.It quoted one source as saying a big mushroom cloud had been seen.The North has said nothing yet about a blast but often notes events long after they happen – and sometimes not at all.The New York Times reported in its Sunday editions the Bush administration had received recent intelligence reports that some experts believed could indicate North Korea was preparing to conduct its first nuclear weapons test explosion.In Washington, U.S. officials said there was no definitive explanation yet, although the blast did not appear to be nuclear.A test would radically alter the stakes in the North’s standoff with Washington over Pyongyang’s atomic ambitions.- Nampa-ReutersThe blast probably occurred between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.”The weather overall at the time was cloudy but there was a peculiar cloud, a cloud that was different from any other,” said the official, who asked not to be identified.”We cannot confirm whether it had the characteristics of a mushroom cloud.”South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the blast in Kimhyungjik county in Ryanggang province in the northeast near the border with China appeared much stronger than a train explosion that killed at least 170 people in April.It quoted one source as saying a big mushroom cloud had been seen.The North has said nothing yet about a blast but often notes events long after they happen – and sometimes not at all.The New York Times reported in its Sunday editions the Bush administration had received recent intelligence reports that some experts believed could indicate North Korea was preparing to conduct its first nuclear weapons test explosion.In Washington, U.S. officials said there was no definitive explanation yet, although the blast did not appear to be nuclear.A test would radically alter the stakes in the North’s standoff with Washington over Pyongyang’s atomic ambitions.- Nampa-Reuters