PYONGYANG, North Korea, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- North Korea's foreign minister says the mysterious 2-mile-wide mushroom cloud seen from space last week was from a deliberate demolition of a mountain.
Meeting with visiting British Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell in Pyongyang Monday, Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun said Thursday's blast was part of construction of a new hydroelectric plant near the Chinese border.
Rammell asked that international diplomats be allowed to inspect the site, and the Foreign Office said North Korea has agreed to consider the request, CNN reported.
Responding to the request, North Korea's vice foreign minister for Europe, Kung Sok Ung, said British Ambassador to Pyongyang David Slinn could go to the site as soon as Tuesday, Sky News said.
Until Monday's statement, the secretive North Korean government remained silent on what caused the mushroom cloud.
The South Korean news agency Yonhap reported the explosion happened near the site of the large Yongjori missile base, which has an underground firing range.
