North Korea: US, South Korea close to new nuclear test

There are growing indications that North Korea could soon test a nuclear weapon for the first time since 2017, in a bid to improve its arsenal and increase political pressure, US and South Korean officials and analysts said.

Two U.S. officials told Reuters that there were indications, including activity near the Punggye-ri nuclear power plant, that Pyongyang might be preparing for some sort of test, although the exact timing was unclear.

A South Korean military official has confirmed that they are monitoring the reconstruction of one of the tunnels used for nuclear tests.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby declined to comment this week, but said Washington was concerned about new tests because they would provide an opportunity for North Korea to strengthen its arsenal.

“Every time you try you learn … We know this is a program they want to improve,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. “And so, of course, we are concerned about trying to do that.”

Analysts say more tests could help North Korea meet its stated goals of building smaller nuclear warheads and improving their reliability.

A repeat of the nuclear tests could cause political upheaval in the region. China and Russia had joined the United States and other members of the UN Security Council in imposing sanctions on Pyongyang over its previous tests, but after the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) flight last week, both Beijing and and Moscow have opposed any new measures, saying sanctions should be relaxed.

Liu Xiaoming, China’s envoy to Korea, called on all sides to show restraint, but said the main cause of tensions was Washington’s failure to address North Korea’s legitimate security concerns and to respond to has done Pyongyang since 2018.

On Thursday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington remained open to talks, but that North Korea’s continuing provocations would provoke additional reactions from the international community.

North Korea has conducted all six of its nuclear tests in deep tunnels dug under the mountains in Punggye-ri. In 2018 he used explosives to close the old entrances in front of the invited foreign media but not to international experts, raising questions about the extent of the demolition.

That year, Pyongyang declared a voluntary moratorium on nuclear weapons testing and its ICBMs. Since then, he has stated that he is not committed to it due to the lack of reciprocal moves by the United States and its allies. Last month, it launched an ICBM test launch for the first time since 2017.

Satellite imagery from Thursday shows a possible new excavation at the South Gate, just east of a former tunnel entrance that was destroyed as part of demolition efforts in 2018, 38 North, a US program monitoring North Korea, said in a report.

Although some South Korean media reports indicated that workers were building “shorter routes” to connect to the test tunnels as quickly as possible, they seemed more likely to try to dig at a fixed point instead of digging through the fragmented rock around the former entrance, 38 North reported.

The organization noted that some technical buildings, such as the management and control center of the construction site, were not destroyed in 2018.

Satellite imagery has been active in the main administrative area since December, the Vienna-based Open Nuclear Network (ONN) said in a report this week.

It is worth noting that the South Gate tunnel, which seems to be reopening to North Korea, had not been used for testing before, the ONN report said. Piles of logs that could be logs, which are often used to support such tunnels, have also been identified, he added.

A separate report from 38 North said satellite imagery showed increased activity around North Korea’s Sohae satellite launch site after leader Kim Jong Un ordered it to be expanded as part of a U.S. reconnaissance satellite launch program. States and their allies.