British ambassador visits DPRK blast site

British Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell said Thursday that British ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has visited the site of a huge explosion that raised fears of a nuclear weapons test.

"I can confirm British Ambassador, David Slinn and other foreign diplomats (from Sweden, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Mongolia) were today taken by North Korean officials to Samsu in the north-east of the country, where a hydro electric power plant is being built," Rammell said in a statement.

"We welcome the speed in which the North Koreans set up the visit following my request to (DPRK) Foreign Minister Paek (Nam Sun) on Monday," said Rammell, who has been back from a visit to the DPRK from last Saturday to Tuesday.

"I have had an initial readout from the Ambassador. The diplomats inspected the site for 90 minutes and were allowed to take photographs of the area. The information they gathered will be reported back to technical experts in capitals. We now need to await their finding," Rammell added.

The DPRK has confirmed the blast, which reportedly happened on Sept. 9 in the country's northern region, was part of a power plant project.

Source: Xinhua