WASHINGTON —
Recent satellite photos show North Korea could be almost ready to carry out its threat to conduct a nuclear test, a U.S. research institute said Friday.
The images of the Punggye-ri site, where nuclear tests were conducted in 2006 and 2009, reveal that over the past month, roads have been kept clear of snow and that North Koreans may have been sealing the tunnel into a mountainside where a nuclear device would be detonated.
But it remains difficult to discern North Korea’s true intentions, as a test would be conducted underground.
The analysis was provided to The Associated Press by 38 North, the website of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. The latest image was taken Wednesday.
North Korea’s powerful National Defense Commission declared its plans Thursday after the U.N. Security Council tightened sanctions in response to a December long-range rocket launch. It described the plans as part of a “new phase” of combat with the United States, which retains 28,000 troops in South Korea and which it blames for leading the U.N. bid to punish Pyongyang.
The North said a nuclear test was part of “upcoming” action but did not say exactly when or where it would take place.
38 North concludes that the Punggye-ri site, in the country’s northeast, “appears to continue to be at a state of readiness that would allow the North to move forward with a test in a few weeks or less once the leadership in Pyongyang gives the order.”
South Korean media have cited intelligence officials as saying technical preparations appear complete, and the North could be ready to test within days of making a decision to do so.
U.S. officials confirmed Friday that some trucks have been seen moving around the site. One official said the U.S. is not ruling out that the test could happen in the near future.
But the officials cautioned that, as in previous tests, because it would be done underground, the U.S. may not know much before it actually happens. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss intelligence matters publicly.
In 2006, North Korea detonated a nuclear device just six days after it announced its plans to do so, and in 2009, 26 days after the announcement. Both tests came weeks after the U.N. Security Council had condemned it for long-range rocket launches.
“While the test site appears to continue to be at a high state of readiness, it’s anyone’s guess when a detonation might occur. The North Koreans may do it tomorrow, some other day or they may decide to wait until a meaningful date like Kim Jong Il’s birthday on Feb. 16,” said Joel Wit, a former U.S. State Department official and the editor of 38 North.
Anniversaries related to members of North Korea’s ruling dynasty, such as former leader Kim Jong Il, who died in December 2011, are marked with great fanfare in the authoritarian nation.
In its assessment of the preparations at Punggye-ri, 38 North noted that there was considerable snowfall there in November 2012. It said subsequent clearing operations as well as tracks in the snow in the remote area reveal activity at buildings and on roads near the possible test tunnel.
A satellite image taken Jan. 4 shows 30 or more personnel, possibly soldiers or security guards, in formation in the yard of the main administrative buildings at the site.
A Dec. 24 image shows a pile of material in the same yard. Its purpose is uncertain, but it could be intended for sealing the tunnel. By the time of Wednesday’s photo, the pile had shrunk, which could indicate operations have begun to seal the tunnel, according to the analysis.
World, nation, state
Images suggest N. Korea ready for nuke test
- World, nation, state
-
-
Mental illness in youth is a common struggle
Go to a busy street in your community and count the next 25 adolescents who walk, bike, skateboard, stroll or saunter past. Odds are that two of those 25 kids (8.3 percent to be exact) would own up to having experienced 14 or more days in the last month that he or she considered “mentally unhealthy,” according to a comprehensive report on the mental health of American youth issued this week.
-
Imprisoned Ohio Amish complain about schooling
Some of the Amish sentenced in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio are upset with federal prison education requirements.
-
Feces contaminates 58 percent of public swimming pools
Human feces taints more than half of public swimming pools, a finding U.S. health officials are using to urge better personal hygiene as the summer months approach.
-
Record Powerball jackpot inspires office pools
In workplaces across the nation, Americans are inviting their colleagues to chip in $2 for a Powerball ticket and a shared daydream.
-
Dark, massive asteroid to fly by Earth May 31
It’s 1.7 miles long. Its surface is covered in a sticky black substance similar to the gunk at the bottom of a barbecue. If it impacted Earth it would probably result in global extinction. Good thing it is just making a flyby.
-
Afghanistan: Bomb kills 15, including 6 Americans
A suicide car bombing tore through a U.S. convoy in Kabul on Thursday, killing at least 15 people including six Americans in a blast so powerful it rattled the other side of the Afghan capital. U.S. soldiers rushed to help, some wearing only T-shirts or shorts under their body armor.
-
Child mental health disorders rising, report finds
Up to one in five American youngsters - some 7 million to 12 million by one estimate - experience a mental health disorder each year, according to a new report billed as the first comprehensive look at the mental health status of American children.
-
Map of hateful tweets shows hotspots are mostly in eastern half of U.S.
Tweets containing hateful words are coming in larger proportions from people living in the eastern half of the United States, according to a new map that tracked hate speech on Twitter.
-
Wet spring heightens Lake Erie algae worries
Officials are concerned that the wet Ohio spring will again bring toxic algae problems back to Lake Erie.
-
Obama tries to regain control amid controversies
Under mounting pressure, President Barack Obama on Wednesday released a trove of documents related to the Benghazi attack and forced out the top official at the Internal Revenue Service following revelations that the agency targeted conservative political groups. The moves were aimed at halting a perception spreading among both White House opponents and allies that the president has been passive and disengaged as controversies consume his second term.
- More World, nation, state Headlines
-
Mental illness in youth is a common struggle
