Reuters
A large part of North Korea’s underground nuclear test facility is unusable due to the collapse of a cavity inside the mountain after the latest test-detonation occurred, according to Chinese seismologists involved in a soon-to-be-published study.
The experts, led by researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China, warned that another blast in the same spot and with similar yield to the one on Sept. 3 could cause “environmental catastrophe.”
Another study, led by Chinese seismologists and published this month, also concluded that a secondary tremor shortly after the blast was caused by the cavity’s collapse, but made no judgment on whether the Punggye-ri test site could still be used.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced on Saturday that he was suspending nuclear and missile tests and closing the Punggye-ri facility, where all six of his country’s nuclear tests took place. His announcement was welcomed by the U.S., South Korea and China as a positive step in the run-up to an inter-Korean summit on Friday and a planned meeting between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump by June.
Popular on WSJ.com: