'Huge explosion' in North Korean province

The damage and crater left by the explosion in Kim Hyong Jik county was big enough to be noticed by a satellite, the source said.

Experts have speculated that North Korea might use a major anniversary to conduct a nuclear-related test, although there was no immediate indication that the reported explosion on Thursday was linked to Pyongyang’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

“We understand that a mushroom-shaped cloud about 2.2 to 2.5 miles in diameter was monitored during the explosion,” Yonhap quoted an unidentified diplomatic source in Seoul as saying.

North Korea was founded on September 9, 1948. Leader Kim Jong Il uses the occasion to stage performances and other events to bolster loyalty among the impoverished North Korean population.

Yesterday, North Korea said recent revelations that South Korea conducted secret nuclear experiments involving uranium and plutonium made the communist state more determined to pursue its own nuclear programmes.

The South Korean experiments, conducted in 1982 and 2000, were likely to further complicate the already stalled six-nation talks aimed at dismantling the North’s nuclear development. South Korea has said the experiments were purely for research and did not reflect a desire to develop weapons.

On April 22, train wagons at a railway station exploded in the North Korean town of Ryongchon, killing 160 people and injuring an estimated 1,300, according to some estimates. The blast was believed to have been sparked by a train laden with oil and chemicals that hit power lines.

The source in Beijing that told Yonhap about the explosion last week said it was reportedly bigger than the train explosion in Ryongchon.