North Korea appears to be preparing for a third nuclear test, a South Korean newspaper reported Thursday, days after Pyongyang declared it was ready to return to nuclear talks.
North Korea appears to be preparing for a third nuclear test, a South
Korean newspaper reported Thursday, days after Pyongyang declared it was ready
to return to nuclear talks.
However, South Korean government officials said there was no concrete evidence
the communist state was readying such a test, saying
Seoul
and
its allies are closely watching developments related to the North's nuclear
facilities.
According to
South Korea
's
biggest-selling newspaper
Chosun Ilbo
,
U.S.
satellites detected movements of personnel and vehicles at the site where the North
carried out its first two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
"Hectic movements of personnel and vehicles have recently been detected in
Punggye-ri," Chosun quoted an unidentified government source as saying.
The North also appears to be restoring tunnels demolished during the first two
tests, according to the source.
"However, it is unlikely (the North will) carry it out soon. It is
expected to take another three months (to complete preparations for a third
test)," the source said.
However, a spokesman for
South
Korea
's Joint Chiefs of Staff said
there was no evidence of any such preparations.
"We have no concrete evidence to support the news report," he told
reporters. "We're watching closely any development concerning the North's
nuclear facilities and sharing information with countries concerned."
A South Korean defense ministry official also said on condition of anonymity
that such movements were being constantly detected, possibly for the daily
maintenance of key strategic facilities at the site.
Another government source told Yonhap news agency that since the North's last
nuclear test in May 2009 there has been consistent movement of personnel and
vehicles around Punggye-ri.
"It is difficult to regard these moves as signs that a nuclear test is
imminent," the source was quoted as saying by Yonhap.
North Korea
conducted its first two nuclear tests, in October 2006 and May 2009, in
Punggye-ri in the northeastern
province
of
North
Hamgyong
, the second coming the month after it walked out
of six-party nuclear disarmament talks.
The Chosun report came as
Seoul
is
preparing to host a Group of 20 summit next month, welcoming world leaders
including U.S. President Barack Obama.
North Korea
said
on Saturday it was willing to resume the six-nation disarmament talks but would
not be "hasty" because the
U.S.
and
some other parties were "not ready."
The
U.S.
says
the North must mend relations with the South and show sincerity about nuclear
disarmament before any resumption of the negotiations.
A senior South Korean foreign ministry official said Wednesday the North should
allow inspectors back to its nuclear facilities and declare a moratorium on its
nuclear activities before the six-party talks can resume.
The unidentified official also said
Seoul
's
proposal last year of a "grand bargain," in which President Lee
Myung-bak offered the North massive economic aid for complete denuclearization,
was still valid, Yonhap news agency said.
China
, the
North's sole major ally and economic lifeline, is pressing to restart the
six-party forum, which groups the two
Koreas
, the
U.S.
,
China
,
Japan
and
Russia
and
began in 2003.
Prospects for renewed negotiations have been clouded by South Korean and
U.S.
accusations that the North torpedoed one of
Seoul
's
warships in March, a charge
Pyongyang
denies.
The 1950-53 Korean War ended only in an armistice and without a formal peace
treaty.
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