Free Republic

The people of North Korea are not as submissive as they appear to be. Unnoticed by the outside world, strong opposition to the regime of dictator Kim Jong Il is beginning to appear. On April 22, two trains loaded with chemicals exploded in the city of Ryongchon. Although 169 people died or were horribly disfigured, including a large number of children from a nearby school, no functionaries appeared in the city to comfort the injured and the relatives of the victims. President Kim Jong Il did not even condescend to issuing a telegram offering his condolences. The state-owned news agency...

/begin my translation [Ryongchon Mystery]Who Blew Up Ryongchon? It has been almost two months since Ryongchon Train Explosion occurred in N. Korea. A plenty of relief aids were sent from all over the world, when the world saw pictures of children badly wounded by the blast. According to Lee Jong-hyuk, the vice chairman of N. Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, who visited Seoul on June 14th, the reconstruction and repair of Ryongchon would be complete by coming October. Its residents, especially those wounded children, could soon start smiling again at their new homes and schools. However, under such an uplifting outlook,...

1997 Train Disaster Claims Death Toll of 2,400 People North Korean railroad trains, due to obsolete tracks and diminishing funding, have long been exposed to danger. In 1997, a passenger train that departed from Haeju, South Hwanghae Province, and headed to Manpo, Jagang Province, derailed on a bridge on a descending slope called Kaegogae Hill between Huichon and Chonchon, and plunged into the valley tens of meters below. It was a horrible disaster, leaving few people alive. Passengers were packed into the train like sardines. People's Army units stationed nearby were mobilized to look after the aftermath, with no villagers...

North Korea train explosion meant for Kim Jong Il The World Today - Monday, 14 June , 2004 12:18:00 Reporter: Mark Simkin ELEANOR HALL: A report from Pyongyang suggests that April's deadly train explosion was in fact an assassination attempt on North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il. More than one hundred people died and thousands were injured in disaster. At the time, the communist country said the blast was caused by electrical cables accidentally coming in contact with ammonium nitrate. It's thought that Kim Jong Il's train passed through the site just a few hours before the explosion. Joining me...

Officials investigating the devastating North Korean train explosion in April now believe that the blast was an assassination attempt on the country's leader, Kim Jong-il. At the time, the secretive Communist state described the explosion in the border town of Ryongchon as an accident. Electric cables were believed to have ignited a cargo of explosive chemicals and oil. Now, however, officials close to the investigation believe that a mobile telephone was used to detonate the train's deadly cargo of ammonium nitrate and fuel. The remains of a mobile handset, with adhesive tape attached, have been found at the scene of...

/begin my translation N. Korea: Syrians Present At the Ryongchon Explosion Site (new details:bio/chem-tipped missiles) Dead Syrians sent home about a week after the accident. While the train explosion at Ryongchon station, N. Pyongan Province, N. Korea, on 22nd of last April, still generates many speculations on its possible causes, including a failed assassination of Kim Jong-il, a freak accident, a staged accident by N. Koreans, it is now confirmed that there were many Syrians among the casualties of the explosion. According to a knowledgeable intelligence source on N. Korean matters, about a week after the accident, on May 1st,...

Sights of Silence By RICHARD RAGAN as told to JAMES BROOKE Published: May 23, 2004 North Korea is a whisker smaller than my home state, Mississippi. But when I heard about the explosion last month at Ryongchon train station, I knew I was in for a long, hard drive. As the crow flies, it was 300 miles. But I was in the northeast corner of the country, near the Russian border, when I heard the news on the BBC. With North Korea's bumpy dirt roads and circuitous routes, our convoy of white Toyota Land Cruisers faced a three-day, 800-mile road...

Rebuilding, Rumors Robust 5 Weeks After N.Korea Blast Thu May 27, 6:16 AM ET Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Paul Eckert and John Ruwitch SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korean workers are rapidly rebuilding the town destroyed by a deadly train blast last month, but the rumor mill about the explosion is working just as fast. Aid workers and diplomats who assessed rumors and sketchy reports about the cause of the April 22 explosion at Ryongchon and about draconian North Korean responses say it is hard to draw firm conclusions in the atmosphere of secrecy. The explosion, which...

North Korean Security Believes Ryongchon Explosion an Assassination Attempt According to a source, North Korea's State Safety & Security Agency concluded that the massive explosion that occurred in the North Korean city of Ryongchon on April 22 had been conspired by anti-North Korean government forces to harm North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. A North Korean official who was recently on his business trip to China said, “The North Korean National Security Agency has investigated the incident since it took place and concluded that rebellious forces had plotted the explosions targeting the exclusive train of Kim Jong-il. The security agency, in...

/begin my translation Ryongchon Explosion Occurred While Transporting Military Cargo? Sankei Shimbun, a Japanese Daily, reported on 7th (of May, 2004), "In Ryongchon Blast, Syrian engineers were killed and wounded. A wagon carrying a large cargo had a particularly heavy damage, revealed on 6th (of May, 2004) by a military news source who has great expertise on Korean matters." According to the source, "the content of the cargo is unknown. However, after the accident, N. Korean military personnels in protective suits arrived at the scene, and recovered the remains of the destroyed wagon. We strongly suspect that the accident occurred...

N. Korean rail explosion foiled missile shipment to Syria SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Tuesday, May 18, 2004 A North Korean missile shipment to Syria was halted when a train collision in that Asian country destroyed the missile cargo and killed about a dozen Syrian technicians. U.S. officials confirmed a report in a Japanese daily newspaper that a train explosion on April 22 killed about a dozen Syrian technicians near the Ryongchon province in North Korea. The officials said the technicians were accompanying a train car full of missile components and other equipment from a facility near the Chinese border to...

North Korea exchanging seccret WMD's?

Syrian technicians accompanying unknown equipment were killed in the train explosion in North Korea on April 22, according to a report in a Japanese newspaper

A military source familiar with Korean Peninsula affairs revealed on 6 May that Syrian technicians were killed in a train explosion incident that occurred on 22 April in Yongch'on in the northwestern part of the DPRK and that the damage was especially serious in that section of the train where the Syrians were aboard, along with large equipment. The same source noted that although the contents of the equipment are unknown, DPRK military-related personnel wearing protective suits arrived on the scene immediately after the explosion and removed debris only from that section of the train where the Syrian group had...

Although the government of North Korea now spins a different story, both initial Korean reports and American satellite photographs suggest that the devastating explosion on April 22 in Ryongchon, North Korea, was an eerie replay of the Taggart Tunnel train crash in Ayn Rand's 1957 novel "Atlas Shrugged." In Rand's novel, an incipient fascist dictatorship in America is stopped in its tracks by a strike of the men of the mind. In "Atlas Shrugged," as in Ryongchon, the hobbling of human minds by dictatorship brought about a return to the ancient technology of open-fire steam locomotives. In both, the immediate...

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea (news - web sites) reportedly agreed Friday to open its heavily armed border for relief goods from the South, countering criticism it would rather remain isolated than accept aid for victims of a deadly train explosion. North Korea's Red Cross sent a telephone message to its South Korean counterpart Friday, saying it would allow South relief trucks to travel to the town of Kaesong just across the countries' border, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. Other local media carried similar reports. Red Cross and government officials were not available for comment. In its message,...

Comparison photos here I'm not sure if it's OK to post the pictures directly. More pictures here

Click on the small image to view a larger version New Post-blast Satellite Imagery from DigitalGlobe Pre-explosion overview of the area of devastion(Source: DigitalGlobe 13 May 2003) Overview of the area of devastion (Source: DigitalGlobe 27 April 2004) Comparative overview of the blast-affected town of Ryongchon Approximate location of the explosion(Source: DigitalGlobe 13 May 2003) Approximate location of the explosion, post-blast The explosion's crater appears to have been partially filled in(Source: DigitalGlobe 27 April 2004) Comparative overview of the approximate location of the explosion in the town of Ryongchon The Ryongchon Primary School, pre-explosion(Source: DigitalGlobe 13 May 2003) The...

<p>DANDONG, China -- Aid workers allowed into secretive North Korea on Saturday described a ring of devastation around last week's massive train explosion and said 76 of the 154 people confirmed dead were children in a school destroyed by the blast.</p>

The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) made an erroneous reporting over the train explosion in North Korea by posting an incorrect satellite photo showing huge clouds of black smoke billowing from the alleged blast site on its Website. The BBC explained Friday that the photo was taken 18 hours after the explosion in the northwest North Korean town of Ryongchon, but the black-and-white satellite image was later found to be taken after an air raid in Iraq. Due to the superb timing of the mistaken photo Web-posting, many newspapers, including The Korea Times, printed the same photo in error in their...

NORTH Korea is such a secretive state that the full extent of yesterday's train disaster is likely to remain a mystery for as long as the totalitarian Government is in power. Pyongyang's reported decision to declare a state of emergency in the crash area was an indication of the severity of the situation. But the nation's sensitivity to how it is perceived by the outside world suggests it is unlikely to deliver a full account of the disaster. The lack of information will spur speculation, particularly as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il passed through Ryongchon station nine hours before the...

A large crater is seen at the railway station in Ryongchon, North Korea (news - web sites), after a catastrophic explosion, April 24, 2004. At least 154 people, including 76 students, were killed and more than 1,300 people had been injured in the blast at the railway station in the town of Ryongchon near the Chinese border on April 22, China's Xinhua news agency said, quoting a senior rescue official. CHINA OUT, NO ARCHIVES, NO SALES REUTERS/Xinhua/Ren Libo A compartment destroyed in the train blast is seen on Saturday April 24, 2004 in Ryongchon County, North Korea (news -...

Two trains that collided triggering a massive blast in North Korea were carrying explosives and not fuel, while casualty figures appeared to be lower than originally feared, an international Red Cross official said Friday. The number of dead was at least 54, and 1,249 people were injured, said John Sparrow, a Red Cross spokesman in Beijing, but he expected the toll to rise as many buildings around the crash site were destroyed. Initial reports had said as many as 3,000 people were killed or hurt. A Thai relief worker, conversely, said the local authorities placed the death toll at 150....

<p>April 24 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations and International Red Cross workers traveled to the North Korean city near the Chinese border where a railway explosion left at least 154 people dead and 1,300 injured. Aid offers poured in.</p> <p>North Korea's media broke its silence on the explosion at a railway depot in Ryongchon, a city of 130,000 people. ``The damage is very serious,'' the government-owned Korea Central News Agency said. It blamed the accident on ``carelessness during the shunting of wagons loaded with ammonium nitrate fertilizer.''</p>

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea (news - web sites) said Saturday that human error contributed to the deadly train explosion near the border with China, and expressed appreciation for offers of international humanitarian assistance. North Korea's official news agency, KCNA, released its first statement about the disaster Thursday, saying the explosion occurred "due to the electrical contact caused by carelessness during the shunting of wagons loaded with ammonium nitrate fertilizer and tank wagons." KCNA said "the investigation conducted so far shows that the damage is very serious." The explosion at a railway station in Ryongchon reportedly killed several hundred...

More Info on N. Korean Explosion Site(A recent defector's take) KBS1 Radio around 1pm in S. Korean time interviewed a recent N. Korean defector(refugee) from Shinuiju, located 10 miles north of Ryongchon, where the massive blast was believed to have killed or wounded 3,000 people yesterday. He says: (1) A lot of cargos are hauled in Ryongchon these days. Other established site like Yongju station does not have enough capacity to handle them all the time. Freight cars which cannot find their parking space are often parked in Ryongchon. Significant part of supplies destined for N. Korea from China went...

BLAST: UN HELP ACCEPTED North Korea has accepted an offer of help from the United Nations after it was confirmed that scores of people were killed and thousands left injured and homeless after a huge rail explosion. The blast is believed to have been caused when wagons carrying dynamite were being shunted into a station siding and came into contact with electric cables. Debris was reportedly hurled up to 12 miles away from the scene in the town of Ryongchon. "Our representative for the World Food Programme in Pyongyang offered UN aid to the North Korean authorities, who accepted," said...

DANDONG, China (AP) — North Korean officials say several hundred people were believed killed in an explosion at a train station in the town of Ryongchon near the Chinese border, the British ambassador to North Korea said Friday. Earlier, a U.N. agency in Geneva said the secrective communist government had acknowledged at least 50 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in Thursday's blast that destroyed more than 1,800 dwellings. The statement came as North Korea made a formal request to the United Nations for international help in the disaster.

GENEVA, April 23 (Reuters) - North Korea has formally asked for international help to deal with the aftermath of a train explosion which killed a large number of people and razed a large part of the town of Ryongchon, the United Nations said on Friday. The U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that the formal request had been received on Friday afternoon.

An image taken on South Korean channel YTN shows flames and smokenear the Ryongchon train station. Photo: AFP The massive blast caused by the collision of two explosives-laden North Korean trains killed at least 150 people and injured 1,249, international aid officials said today, as details of the devastation started to emerge. The toll was expected to rise, with nearly 10,000 buildings destroyed or damaged. North Korea's government said the explosion occurred when train cars carrying dynamite touched power lines, according to Anne O'Mahony, regional director of the Irish aid agency Concern. ``It says 150 people died, including some...

An ammonium nitrate leakage at the origin of the rail crash An ammonium nitrate leakage is at the origin of the rail crash in North Korea, which could have made Thursday 3.000 died and wounded, according to the agency China Nouvelle. "the accident was caused by an ammonium nitrate leakage in one of the trains", according to the Chinese official agency quoting the embassy of China with Pyongyang. The Chinese embassy set up a team charged to provide an assistance to the victims, specified Friday the agency.

DANDONG, China/SEOUL (Reuters) - A collision between two fuel-laden trains in North Korea caused huge casualties, but South Korean officials said on Friday there was no way of immediately confirming reports of as many as 3,000 dead or injured. Doctors at a nearby Chinese border city hospital braced for a major emergency after Thursday's accident at Ryongchon, which sent plumes of acrid smoke billowing over the town and rained debris for miles (kilometres) around. "This accident is likely to have become tremendous in scale," South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun told reporters in Seoul. He said Communist North Korea had...

China has confirmed "a train explosion" in North Korea, saying two of its nationals were killed, 12 were injured and 20 Chinese-owned houses collapsed, state press reported. "The Chinese embassy in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea confirmed that two Chinese were killed and 12 others were injured in a train explosion Thursday in Ryongchon," the Xinhua news agency said. It had earlier reported just one fatality. Among the 12 injured Chinese, two were seriously hurt, it said. "Twenty Chinese houses have collapsed and three Chinese houses were blown down in the train explosion," the agency said. China Central Television...

North Korea has released information for the first time on yesterday's explosion in the northwest of the country, which caused many casualties. Reports reaching neighbouring countries have said two trains carrying fuel oil collided at a station in the town of Ryongchon, causing an explosion that killed up to 3,000 people. Speaking to RTÉ Radio from Pyongyang, the regional director of the Irish aid agency Concern, Ann O'Mahony, said North Korean officials had released information about the accident in response to requests from international representatives. The officials said the explosion had been caused by dynamite and they gave much lower...

BEIJING - North Korea is still not admitting what the rest of the world believes - that two fuel trains collided Thursday near its border with China - and as a result, thousands have been killed or injured. The reclusive Stalinist state even went to far as to cut telephone lines to the area in the hope of keeping the disaster secret. Pyongyang has now asked for China's help in dealing with the massive loss of life. South Korea says it is marshaling its resources to help, if the North Koreans will allow it. The South Korean Defence Ministry says...

Report: train carrying many Chinese was at N. Korean train station when two fuel-laden trains collided, exploded (Reuters)

A South Korean news agency reports North Korea has declared a State of Emergency in the region where two trains crashed and exploded. According to media reports, up to three thousand people were injured or killed in the crash between trains carrying oil and liquefied petroleum near the border with China. North Korea has reportedly cut international phone lines to keep news of the crash from leaking out of the country. One witness is quoted as saying the area around the station "has turned into ruins as if it were bombarded." Just hours earlier, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il...

<p>SEOUL, South Korea — Up to 3,000 people were killed or injured Thursday in a horrific train collision and explosion at a station near the Chinese border, according to South Korean news media, just hours after North Korean President Kim Jong Il (search) had passed through the same spot.</p>

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Two fuel trains collided and exploded in a North Korean train station near the Chinese border Thursday, according to South Korean media, which reported large numbers of casualties. One television station said 3,000 people were believed killed or injured. The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, reportedly had passed through the station as he returned from China nine hours earlier. It was not clear what caused the crash, or if it was related to Kim's journey. The trains were carrying oil and liquefied petroleum gas, media reported. The crash reportedly took place about 1 p.m....

Report: Trains Explode in North Korea Apr 22, 10:52 AM (ET) By SANG-HUN CHOE SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - As many as 3,000 people were killed or injured Thursday when two trains carrying oil and liquefied petroleum gas collided and exploded in a North Korean train station near the Chinese border, South Korean media reported. The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, reportedly had passed through the station as he returned from China hours earlier, South Korea's all-news cable channel, YTN, reported. The number killed or injured could reach 3,000, YTN said, citing unidentified sources on the Chinese side of...

SEOUL, South Korea - Thousands of people were believed killed or injured Thursday when two trains carrying oil and liquefied petroleum gas collided and exploded in a North Korean train station, hours after leader Kim Jong Il passed through on his return from a China visit, South Korean news media reported. The number killed or injured could reach 3,000, said YTN, South Korea (news - web sites)'s all-news cable channel, citing unnamed sources on the China-North Korea (news - web sites) border. South Korea's Yonhap news agency, quoting sources in the Chinese city of Dandong that borders the North, said...

<p>SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) -- Two trains carrying flammable material have collided and exploded at a North Korean train station, nine hours after the country's leader passed through on his way back from China, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.</p>

SEOUL, South Korea — Up to 3,000 people were killed or injured Thursday in a horrific train collision and explosion at a station near the Chinese border, just hours after North Korean President Kim Jong Il had passed through the same spot.

Breaking.There are reports of a large explosion at a train station in northern North Korea, along the China-DPRK train line. This is the same line that Kim Jong il is taking to return to Pyongyang from Beijing today (last night US time). The explosion occured, 1 p.m. local, at a North Korean train station which is one Kim would have transited also today (yesterday local time). Reports coming in to Japanese news agencies. Could be LP gas, or could be something else.Link to Japanese Kyodo flash news on this story.http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20040422-00000242-kyodo-int