U.S. officials are predicting that North Korea will complete preparations for its seventh nuclear test within this month. Earlier, North Korea was known to have begun to restore the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, but recently, new movements that have not been seen in the past have been caught by satellites one after another.
First news, Correspondent Yunsu Kim from Washington.
This is a satellite image of North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site released by 38 North, a US media outlet specializing in North Korea.
The bridge to the command post that was damaged in the flood last year has been restored.
A cargo truck was also spotted parked in front of the command post building for the first time since restoration of the nuclear test site began.
38 North analyzed that under these circumstances, North Korea appears to have long-term plans for a nuclear test site.
In the United States, there are predictions that North Korea will finish preparations for its seventh nuclear test within this month.
[젤리나 포터/미 국무부 부대변인 : 미국은 북한이 풍계리 핵실험장을 복구하고 있고, 이르면 이달 안에 핵실험 준비를 마칠 수 있을 것으로 평가하고 있습니다.]
The U.S. State Department said it was working closely with allies and partners to share relevant information.
In particular, he added that President Biden’s trip to South Korea and Japan this month will further strengthen security commitments with allies.
After the sixth nuclear test in September 2017, North Korea declared a waiver of its nuclear test and intercontinental ballistic missile test launch as the North Korea-U.S. summit was held the following year.
At that time, it was said that the Punggye-ri nuclear test site was destroyed by bombing, but it was evaluated that the underground structure was left behind.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are likely to peak if North Korea carries out a nuclear test following an intercontinental ballistic missile test.