Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - A US-based think group warned on Thursday that North Korea appeared to be expanding maintenance work at...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - A US-based think group warned on Thursday that North Korea appeared to be expanding maintenance work at its nuclear test site to include a second tunnel, while South Korean and US authorities say a new nuclear test may happen at any time.
According to commercial satellite imagery, work and preparations at Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility Tunnel No. 3 are now complete and ready for a prospective nuclear test, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Analysts noticed new construction activity at Tunnel No. 4 for the first time, "strongly implying an effort to reenable it for potential future testing," according to the assessment.
According to the source, photos outside Tunnel No. 3 revealed a retaining wall and some little landscaping with small trees or plants, perhaps in preparation for a visit by top officials.
Between 2006 and 2017, North Korea conducted six underground nuclear tests at the facility.
The two tunnels had never been utilised for nuclear testing before, and their entrances were blasted in 2018 when North Korea placed a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile testing (ICBMs).
Leader Kim Jong Un has stated that he is no longer bound by the moratorium due to the United States' failure to reciprocate during denuclearization talks, and Pyongyang has resumed ICBM testing this year.
North Korea is set to perform a nuclear test "at any time," according to South Korean authorities, and the timing is now exclusively in Kim's hands.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin warned on Monday, after meeting with US officials in Washington, that any provocation by North Korea, including a nuclear test, would be faced with a united and robust response, and encouraged China to utilise its influence.
