N. Korea Constructed a Uranium Mine at the Border Area?
FNK ^ | 02/05/08 | Kim Dae-sung

Posted on 02/06/2008 6:13:37 AM MST by TigerLikesRooster

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N. Korea Constructed a Uranium Mine at the Border Area?
[2008-02-05]

A N. Korean defector came out with a claim, which says that N. Korea built an uranium mine disguised as an iron mine near Sino-N. Korean border.

Kim Dong-han(alias, age:65,) a N. Korean defector who escaped N. Korea last December, came to Free North Korea Radio on Feb. 4, and gave us such a testimony. He used to be an administrative official at Yusun Coal Mine. He said he heard it directly from Chun Ik-sun, the chief engineer of Hoiryong Geological Survey and a son-in-law of the brother of Kim Young-il, N. Korean Prime Minister.

Mr. Kim and Mr. Chun used to serve at the same military unit. They worked together in the mining industry for decades, and talked to each other on numerous occasions.

Oryong Mine(translator's note: the mine in question) is (ostensibly) an iron mine which started its operation in 2005, after 17 years of exploration by N. Korea's General Bureau of Geological Survey. It is located at Obong-dong Valley, 70km away from China's Sanhe Custom's Office. It has iron ore with 36% of purity, and 120 million tons of it is estimated to be deposited there, which allows it to operate for decades.

In 2005, at the time of beginning its operation, the mine is under the control of Ministry of Mining, but since May, 2006, its control was turned over to 8th General Directorate of Military Engineering Bureau, and five thousand active duty soldiers were put into the mine. Mr. Kim said that the reason N. Korean authorities turned over the operation of Oryong Mine to the military is to conceal the fact that it is (actually) an uranium mine.

According to Mr. Kim, to disguise it as an iron mine, it is designed to mine iron ore on the surface, while mining of uranium is done below. He says that five thousand soldiers are working 24 hours a day in four shifts.

Furthermore, he said that there is an uranium processing facilities inside Hoiryong Paper Mill located along Hoiryong Creek(River?.)

Special treatment are said to be given to soldiers working there. Words are that, if you work three years at Oryong Mine, you would get out as a rich man. In other work(construction) sites, workers are given food made out of mixed grains, but the soldiers here are given food made out of white rice(translator's note: 100% rice -- prized over mixed grains) and paid well, too.

Kim Dae-sung

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