Is the international community ready if North Korea’s nuclear ambitions bring about environmental disaster?

Michael McGrady says the potential for serious release of radioactive materials at North Korea’s nuclear testing site is clear. Less clear is how the international community could, or should, react

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un provides field guidance to Farm No 1116 under KPA Unit 810, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang on in September 2016. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

Published: 5:01pm, 19 Sep 2017Updated: 5:01pm, 19 Sep 2017

Following the United Nations Security Council’s unanimous vote to strengthen economic sanctions against North Korea, the closed state’s environmental stability remains one of many serious unanswered questions.

Kim Jong-un’s government has said it would proceed with nuclear testing operations in spite of the new sanctions, leaving many looming concerns. For example, what would happen if nuclear testing persists and a major accident occurs, unleashing radionuclides and other radioactive materials into the surrounding environment? What would happen if the North’s nuclear testing site collapses due to the seismological by-products of a large-scale nuclear test?

Recently, North Korean specialists claimed to have successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb at the underground nuclear testing site at Punggye-ri. According to the US Geological Survey, the blast of the North’s successful test resulted in a 6.3 seismological event.

Why North Korea will become a nuclear power despite pressure

As countries quickly took to the condemnation bandwagon, some analysis declared that the Punggye-ri site couldn’t withstand any more large-scale nuclear testing on the levels of the September 3 test.

Wang Naiyan, former chair of the China Nuclear Society, immediately argued that the September 3 event presages a potential environmental disaster the international community would not be able to ignore.

Ryoo Yong-gyu, the director of South Korea’s Earthquake and Volcano Monitoring Division, speaks to the media about the seismic event following North Korea’s nuclear test on September 3. Photo: AP

There have been reports throughout the global media suggesting many abnormalities surrounding the testing site, showing an increased threat of cave-ins at the underground testing site. It will take many weeks to gauge radiation readings accurately, but some reports monitoring radiation levels in surrounding provinces indicate an increase.

Still, the North will progress with testing at the same site to spite international pressure. To compound matters, the Punggye-ri testing site has been the main site of all nuclear weapons testing during Kim Jong-un’s tenure as supreme leader. This ultimately is a ticking time bomb.

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