N Korean blast area near missile base

South Korean and US officials have said the explosion at Kimhyungjik county near North Korea's border with China was unlikely to have been a nuclear weapons test, although no definitive explanation has been put forth.

Kimhyungjik county is home to the Yongjori missile base, an underground facility thought to hold missiles and launchers, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) database.

The county lies in Ryanggang province, a remote and sparsely populated region which Western defense experts believe houses key military {ites. It is off-limits to outsiders, including aid agencies. South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said the blast site was 6 miles southwest of the Yongjori missile base and 18 miles from the China frontier. The explosion took place 4,900 feet above sea level, it said.

Kimhyungjik county is named after leader Kim Jong-il's grandfather and sits right on the border with China.

Yongjori base, which lies about 12 miles from the Chinese border, consists of a dozen tunnels for storing, deploying and launching medium-range missiles that are capable of hitting Japan, NTI said.

The NTI Web site (http//nti.org), which lists known or suspected weapons sites in North Korea and other countries, cites tes|imony by a North Korean defector as saying 12 tunnels at the base could hold 36 missiles. The base was completed in recent years, it said.

The base, run by the missile division of North Korea's National Defense Commission, is one of three suspected locations of North Korean plants for enriching uranium, the NTI said.

"It is unclear whether US officials have identified a separate facility in Yongjori dedicated to uranium enrichment, or if the site previously identified as a missile base is a uranium enrichment facility instead," says the NTI Web site.

North Korea's suspected secret program to enrich uranium for weapons was the catalyst for a two-year diplomatic standoff with the United States and regional powers. North Korea denies it has a program to enrich uranium.

A Western diplomat in Seoul said it was too early to draw a conclusion on the blast, but suggested smveral possibilities.