200 dead in North Korea at nuclear site

As many as 200 North Korean laborer/slaves have been killed from a mineshaft collapse at the hermit nation's nuclear test site, according to Japan's Asahi TV.

North Korean sources told the news channel that a tunnel being excavated by around 100 workers at the Punggye-ri test site collapsed several weeks ago.

In a rescue attempt of the laborers, an additional 100 rescuers were sent into the tunnel when it collapsed a second time.

While a precise date for the disaster wasn't provided, the tragedy comes soon after North Korea conducted its sixth underground nuclear test at the site. That was the most powerful test to date.

Pyongyang claims the September 3rd test under Mount Mantap was a hydrogen bomb. Monitors suggest the explosion was equivalent to an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale. 

Some experts put the yield of the bomb at 280 kilotons and seismologists recorded signs of underground collapses in the hours and days after the blast.

Satellite images of the area taken immediately after the test revealed extreme damage to surface features, including landslips. 

A study published Oct. 17 by the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University and published on the 38 North web site suggest this last test caused "substantial damage to the existing tunnel network under Mount Mantap." 

For more on this go here.   

And while there are clear signs of "tired mountain syndrome," there are no indications that the site was being abandoned for future nuclear tests.

Nam Jae-chol, head of South Korea's Meteorological Administration, warned before parliament on Monday that further tests at Punggye-ri could cause the mountain to collapse and release radioactivity into the environment.

Chinese scientists have issued similar warnings.

It will be interesting to see what Kim Jong Un is going to do.

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