Associated Press Apr. 27, 2004 07:00 AMSEOUL, South Korea - North Korea's official news agency said Tuesday damage caused by last week's massive train explosion will come to about $356 million.
KCNA, the North Korea's official news agency, said homes were blown away, ceilings and building collapsed, "reducing everything to ruins" in the area within a half-mile of the explosion on Thursday.
I have a very hard time believing there is any square mile of North Korea that could be damaged to the tune of $356 million. In fact, I'm not so sure the whole country could be sold for that much on eBay. The cost of bringing the country into compilance with zoning regulations alone would make the cost-prohibitive. The NK government has only been able to afford it through huge overhead cuts, for example not feeding its population, not generating any electricity, and not producing or using anything.



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