North Korea seen readying for fourth nuclear test: report

[Inahime]

North Korea seen readying for fourth nuclear test: report

SEOUL | Sun Apr 7, 2013 8:54pm EDT

(Reuters) - Activity in North Korea appears to show it is preparing for a fourth nuclear test, with movement at its atomic test site similar to events preceding earlier blasts, a newspaper reported on Monday, quoting a senior South Korean government official.

North Korea has intensified warnings in recent weeks, declaring it had entered a state of war with Seoul, threatening to strike U.S. targets and blocking access to a border factory complex jointly run with the South.

"There are recent active movements of manpower and vehicles at the southern tunnel at Punggye-ri," South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper quoted an unidentified government official as saying. The official was referring to North Korea's nuclear test site.

"We are monitoring because the situation is similar to behavior seen prior to the third nuclear test," the official was quoted as saying. It was unclear, the official told the newspaper, whether the activities were intended to mislead U.S. surveillance.

The North's February 12 nuclear test prompted tougher U.N. sanctions and triggered a hostile response from Pyongyang.

South Korea's defense minister told lawmakers in February, after the third nuclear test, that an additional test was possible.

Pyongyang moved what appeared to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast, according to media reports last week.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park and Jack Kim; Editing by Ron Popeski and Dean Yates)

 

[Inahime]

North Korea 'preparing for fourth nuclear test'

North Korea may be preparing a fourth nuclear test, according to officials in South Korea.

The Punggye-ri nuclear test facility in North Korea Photo: AFP/Getty Images

By Tom Phillips in Shanghai 3:56AM BST 08 Apr 2013

South Korea's unification minister Ryoo Kihl-jae told parliament there was an "indication" that Pyongyang was preparing for a fourth nuclear test.

His statement came after an unidentified South Korean official told the JoongAng Daily newspaper that signs of possible test preparations had been detected at Punggye-ri in North Korea, suggesting a fourth test could be imminent.

“There are recent active movements of manpower and vehicles at the southern tunnel at Punggye-ri," the “high-ranking” official said. “We are monitoring because the situation is similar to behaviour seen prior to the third nuclear test.”

The official admitted it was not clear if the activities reflected genuine preparations for another nuclear test or were merely intended “to pressure Seoul and Washington.”

The rhetoric coming out of Pyongyang has been steadily escalating since North Korea carried out its third nuclear test on February 12, triggering international condemnation and increased sanctions from the United Nations.

Recent weeks have seen North Korean leaders step up their verbal offensive against the United States and South Korea with an almost daily barrage of threats now flowing out of the hermit nation.

In late March, the country’s state-controlled KCNA news agency vowed North Korea’s nuclear program would “never be abandoned as long as imperialists and nuclear weapons exist on earth”.

The report about a possible fourth test, followed a warning from Xi Jinping, the president of China, Pyongyang’s only major ally.

“No one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gains,” Mr Xi told a conference on Sunday, in a clear but indirect reference to the current crisis unfolding in North Korea.

Reflecting growing Chinese frustration with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, Mr Xi said: “Stability in Asia now faces new challenges, as hotspot issues keep emerging.” Governments should attempt to “foster a sense of community” rather than transforming the world into “an arena where gladiators fight each other,” Mr Xi added.

On Sunday, China’s foreign ministry said it was now “gravely concerned about the growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.” Foreign secretary William Hague warned of “the danger of miscalculation by the North Korean regime” during an interview with the BBC.

But Mr Hague urged calm. “We have not seen the repositioning of forces or the redeployment of ground forces that one might see in a period prior to a military assault or to an all-out conflict.”

 

[Nu Wa]

Army reservists salute the flag during a Foundation Day ceremony of the local reserve forces in Seoul. North Korea has placed two of its intermediate range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them on the east coast of the country in a move that could threaten Japan or US Pacific bases, South Korean media reported on Friday. Picture: Lim Hun-jung/Yonhap/Reuters

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[Nu Wa]

A North Korean soldier keeps watch at a guard post near the inter-Korean Kaesong industrial complex. The picture was taken from a South Korean
military observation post near the truce village of Panmunjom. Picture: Lee Jung-hoon/Yonhap/Reuters


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[Nu Wa]

South Korean soldiers stand guard as a North Korean soldier (C far) is seen at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas. North Korea dramatically escalated
its warlike rhetoric on April 4, warning that it had authorised plans for nuclear strikes on targets in the United States. Picture: Yon Hap/AFP/Getty Images


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[Nu Wa]

Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 23rd chemical battalion put on their gear as they give a demonstration of their equipment.
Picture: REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

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[Nu Wa]

North Korean officials wait by the docks along the bank of the Yalu River in the North Korean town of Sinuiju across from the Chinese city of Dandong. North Korea appears to have moved a medium range missile to its east coast, South Korean Defence Minister Kim Kwan-Jin said, prompting fears of a strike against South Korea or Japan. Picture: AFP/Getty Images

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[Nu Wa]

South Korean soldiers prepare 155 mm howitzers for their military exercise on April 5, 2013 in the border city between two Koreas,
Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea. Picture: AP


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[Nu Wa]

South Korean soldiers patrol inside the barbed-wire fence near the border village of Panmunjom. South Korean President Park Geun-hye admitted that while hoping for the best,
she is preparing for the worst. Picture: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images


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[Nu Wa]

A South Korean worker Kwon Suk-Mi, arriving from the Kaesong Kaesong joint industrial complex in North Korea, speaks to reporters at the inter-Korean transit office in Paju, South Korea. 400 South Koreans remain in the joint industrial complex fearing they can not get back there once return to South. Picture: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images


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[Nu Wa]

South Korean soldiers of an artillery unit move to conduct military training near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas. South Korea is to buy Taurus bunker-busting air-to-ground long range missiles for its F-15K strike fighters in a move to boost its strike power amid rising tensions with North Korea. Picture: Lee Jae-Won/Reuters


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[Nu Wa]

A South Korean soldier gestures at a military check point in Paju. Picture: Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo


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[Nu Wa]

A South Korean man who is waiting to head to the North Korean city of Kaesong, watches a news program airing file footage of a North Korean rocket displayed
during a military parade at the customs, immigration and quarantine office in Paju. Picture: Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo


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[Nu Wa]

North Korea's Twitter and Flicks accounts have been hacked by Anonymous. Picture: @Uriminzok


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[kongsimi]

Already in the state of war already still doing tests?

Still not ready for global destruction yet?