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Suspicion has been raised that Korea is not fully cooperating with the United States in determining the cause of the massive explosion that took place in Kim Hyong-jik County, Ryanggang Province, North Korea on Sept. 9. There are many conditions indicating that the two countries are not sharing information when we consider remarks made by the two sides' government officials between Sunday afternoon -- when signs of an explosion were first detected -- and Wednesday. Korea obtained a picture taken by the U.S. private commercial satellite Orbview from the U.S. after it detected an seismic waves of magnitude 2.6 at 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 8 near the spot where the explosion is believed to have taken place. But other than that, it has been learned that Korea has not been provided with important information from the U.S. government that may help determine the cause of the accident.
In one case, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told the National Assembly on Tuesday, ¡°The North said that the explosion was caused during a demolition related to the construction of a power plant, but we are not excluding other possibilities.¡± On the other hand, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said at a similar hour in an interview with Reuters that the North's explanation squared with what the U.S. had seen.
U.S. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher also said during a regular briefing that the North¡¯s explanation was plausible. This shows that unlike Korea, the U.S. has cleared its position that the explosion in North Korea was a massive demolition to construct a hydroelectric power plant. Korea¡¯s National Intelligence Service (NIS), however, said during a meeting with members of the parliamentary information committee, ¡°Along with the possibility of a demolition related to the construction of a power plant, the smoke could have been a natural cloud,¡±even raising the possibility of a natural phenomenon.
In connection with the criticism that there are some problems with the cooperation between Korea and the U.S., Lee Jong-seok, deputy head of the National Security Council, said during a meeting with the press, ¡°The Korea-U.S. relationship is based on mutual trust. Thus, we give what we need to give and take what we need to take.¡±
(Choi Byung-mook, bmchoi@chosun.com )
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