North Korea has been making a lot of noise lately about putting a stop to their nuclear ambitions, going so far as agreeing to finally denuclearize the Korean Peninsula at the first inter-Korean summit in decades. The two Koreas agreed this week to work with the United States and China to end the 1950s Korean war and establish a permanent peace for the first time in decades.
It's an unexpected show of diplomacy from the hermit kingdom country, so it's worth asking: Why Kim Jong-Un all of a sudden so interested in peace?
Some experts believe it's because the country's nuclear program is no longer sustainable thanks to a collapse at North Korea's nuclear test site.
The collapse occurred after the last five nuclear tests by North Korea were conducted underneath Mount Mantap at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the northwest section of the country. Researchers say satellite images indicate that the last nuclear blast ripped a hole open in the mountain which then collapsed upon itself. That created a 'chimney' that could allow fallout from the blast zone to rise into the air.
The multiple tests turned the mountain into fragile fragments. A before and after comparison of the area with satellite photos show multiple landslides.
The findings by the research groups are set to be published in the peer-reviewed journals, Geophysical Research Letters, likely by next month.
Photo: Getty Images