Envoys see N Korea mystery site

The diplomats were allowed to photograph the site

Foreign diplomats have visited a large construction site in North Korea which Pyongyang said was the cause of a mysterious cloud last week.

The diplomats were told a hydroelectric dam was being built and the cloud was due to explosions to clear the area.

But South Korea stoked confusion on Friday when it said the diplomats were taken to a place well to the east of the originally suspected location.

Seoul also said it now believed the cloud was not caused by an explosion.

MYSTERY MOUNTS 12 Sep: S Korea media reports 'mushroom-shaped' cloud over Kimhyungjik county, N Korea 13 Sep: N Korea says dam-clearing blast caused cloud 15 Sep: S Korean spy agency says cloud may have been natural 16 Sep: Foreign diplomats taken to dam near Samsu 17 Sep: S Korea says no evidence of explosion at Kimhyungjik

Lee Bong-jo, South Korean Vice-Minister for Unification, said: "We believe that there was no explosion in the place where intelligence authorities had previously suspected that there were signs of an explosion.

"We believe that the explosion described by North Korea took place in Samsu County, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the originally suspected site, and has to do with a hydroelectric project," he said.

The South's National Intelligence Service said earlier this week that the unusually shaped cloud could have been a natural formation.

South Korean media first reported the cloud last weekend, prompting concern about an accident or possible nuclear test, although this has now been discounted.

Confusion

The diplomats from Britain, the Czech Republic, Germany, Mongolia, Poland, Russia and Sweden travelled to the north of the country on Thursday.

The group, which included British Ambassador to North Korea, David Slinn, were allowed to stay for 90 minutes and take photographs.

They were told that North Korea had carried out two large explosions, on Wednesday and Thursday last week.

British Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell said the information gathered now needed to be assessed by technical experts.

But hopes that the visit would clear up the confusion were dashed when South Korea said the site the diplomats were taken to was some distance from the site of the mysterious cloud.

The diplomats were taken to a location near Samsu, east of Yongjo-ri in Kimhyungjik county, which South Korea originally reported as being the location of the cloud.

North Korea has accused South Korea of using the issue to distract attention from its own difficulties regarding unauthorised nuclear research.

Seoul was forced to admit earlier this month that its scientists had experimented with small quantities of enriched uranium and plutonium.

The admission has added further problems to international efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions.