North Korea 'shows signs' of readying for fourth nuclear test
North Korea appears to be preparing a fourth nuclear test as well as a provocative missile launch, South Korea said on Monday, despite an unusually blunt call from China for restraint.
North Korea appears to be preparing a fourth nuclear test as well as a provocative missile launch, South Korea said on Monday, despite an unusually blunt call from China for restraint.
Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae told lawmakers there were “signs” that another test was in the pipeline, with intelligence reports showing heightened activity at the North’s Punggye-ri atomic test site.
“We are trying to figure out whether it is a genuine preparation for a nuclear test or just a ploy to heap more pressure on us and the US,” the daily cited a senior South Korean government official as saying.
It was the North’s third nuclear test in February and subsequent UN sanctions that kick-started the cycle of ongoing escalating military tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Intelligence reports also suggest Pyongyang has readied two mid-range missiles on mobile launchers on its east coast, and is aiming at a test firing before the April 15 birthday of late founding leader Kim Il-sung.
Kim Jang-soo, chief national security adviser to President Park Geun-hye, said a test-launch could come before or after Wednesday, the date by which the North has suggested foreign diplomats consider leaving Pyongyang.
