by Josh Smith
SEOUL (Reuters) – Workers at an apartment construction site in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, discovered more than 110 bombs, projectiles, mines, grenades and other explosives on Friday that media reports say are weapons made in the United States during the Korean War.
The devices were detected and removed through experts from Pyongyang’s Public Security Bureau, official news firm KCNA reported.
“The explosives, discovered in the housing structure in the Hwasong area, were rusty, but may explode at any time,” the report says.
Chairman Kim Jong Un has announced plans to build 50,000 new buildings in Pyongyang as part of a crusade for life in the impoverished country.
Its economy has been hit by self-imposed border closures to curb COVID-19, natural disasters and foreign sanctions over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, which the United States says divert resources from the needs of the general population.
The explosives left over during the 1950-1953 Korean War have long been a danger to citizens of either Korea. In recent years, experts from the International Committee of the Red Cross’ Weapons Contamination Unit have trained North Korean groups in mine clearance.
During the Korean War, U. S. warplanes struck large swathes of the country, dropping more bombs on North Korea than the U. S. dropped on the entire Pacific theater of World War II, according to U. S. researchers.
This crusade of bombing and other attacks has been a feature of education and government messaging in North Korea.
“After witnessing the destruction of explosives, the army and civilian developers felt a growing hatred towards the US imperialists,” KCNA said in its report on Friday.
(Reporting via Josh Smith. Editing via Gerry Doyle)
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