South Korea's nuclear agency said Saturday it is still seeking confirmation of whether a North Korean weapon test was nuclear, despite US findings showing consistencies with an atomic blast. South Korea's government-affiliated Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety would not comment on the US findings, released Friday, that indicate a sample of air taken after Monday's test contained radioactive debris consistent with an atomic explosion. | South Korean monitoring has so far detected no abnormal levels of radioactivity in South Korean air or rainwater... |
A US government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cautioned that the administration has not made a definitive conclusion about the nature of the explosion. "The betting is that this was an attempt at a nuclear test that failed," the official said. "We don't think they were trying to fake a nuclear test, but it may have been a nuclear fizzle - an effort that failed." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.