North Korea is giving no official indication it's preparing a 3rd attempted nuclear test. But reports abroad say such an underground detonation could come at any time.
Some regional media outlets are reporting a North Korea nuclear test is predicted between early and mid-May.
One report, within the Joong-Ang Ilbo in South Korea, quotes a diplomatic source in Washington as saying the U.S. has told South Korea this type of detonation could occur once this week.
Asked about that, a U.S. diplomat in Seoul replied the Embassy doesn't touch upon “security matters.â€
Diplomatic and intelligence sources, who don't want to be quoted, say they've seen no indication from satellite imagery that the equipment and associated cabling essential to conduct such an underground detonation are in place. Images taken by surveillance satellites beforehand few weeks did reveal that digging of a brand new tunnel was underway on the Pyunnge-ri test site.
There is growing speculation that North Korea will try to detonate a uranium-fueled weapon. Its previously announced tests, in 2006 and 2009, are widely believed to have used plutonium, although no traces of radioactive isotopes were detected following the second one attempt.
At a briefing Monday, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-suk told reporters preparations are underway to activate an emergency task force concerning a North Korean nuclear test, nonetheless it seriously isn't yet operational.
Kim says it truly is impossible to get precise information in real time about what's happening on the test site. However the South Korean military is utilizing various methods - in cooperation with U.S. forces - to collected pertinent information.
At the Unification Ministry, that's tasked with North-South relations because the two Koreas don't have any diplomatic ties, spokesman Kim Hyung-suk says there's concern North Korea could take further provocative actions soon, including another nuclear test.
The spokesman says the ministry is continuously asking Pyongyang to make a favorable choice in responding to the active recommendations of the international community. Kim warns North Korea it may possibly expect further punishment if it again carries out a provocation.
North Korea is already under international sanctions for previous nuclear and missile tests.
The United Nations Security Council, inside the coming days, is predicted to announce tighter sanctions within the wake of North Korea's April 13th rocket launch, which violated resolutions by the area body at the use of ballistic missile technology.
North Korea contends the launch, which failed two minutes after blast-off, was an try to place a calm satellite into orbit.
The embarrassing failure was followed by increasingly belligerent rhetoric from Pyongyang, threatening “special military action†against the govt of South Korea President Lee Myung-bak.
The North accuses President Lee of insulting it while the nation was grieving after the death in December of its leader, Kim Jong Il. North Korea accuses Mr. Lee of constant to utter “unforgivable†insulting rhetoric during April while the rustic was marking the centennial of the birth of North Korea's founder and eternal President, Kim Il Sung.
From WhatNewsToday.net
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