Evidence keeps mounting of a new nuke test by North Korea

Satellite imagery of the Punggye-ri test site in North Hamgyong Province in North Korea shows excavation work in preparation for a possible nuclear test. [BEYOND PARALLEL]

Excavation work at North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear testing site suggests the regime is gearing up for a seventh nuclear test, according to a U.S.-based think tank.

Beyond Parallel, a North Korea analysis portal operated by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that Pyongyang is making preparations at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province based on satellite images captured on Tuesday.

Photos of Punggye-ri – the only known nuclear testing facility in North Korea – shows “continued activity outside the new portal” for a tunnel leading into an underground test site. Support equipment around the tunnel's entrance indicates ongoing work inside the tunnel.

Further evidence cited by Beyond Parallel for the possibility of an upcoming test included changes in lumber piles, the renovation of existing buildings, and construction of new buildings in the main administration and support areas in and around the test site, suggesting a continued expansion of the support infrastructure.

The think tank cautioned that while an end to the work at the tunnel, which have been going on for three months, would suggest that preparation for a nuclear test is complete, “timing of this test rests solely within the hands of Kim Jong-un,” North Korea’s leader.

The satellite imagery analysis by the think tank follows an assessment by the U.S. government on May 6 that Pyongyang could be ready to conduct a nuclear test at Punggye-ri as early as the end of this month.

"The United States assesses that the DPRK is preparing its Punggye-ri test site and could be ready to conduct a test there as early as this month, which would be its seventh test," said State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter at a regular press briefing, referring to the North by the acronym for its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“This assessment is consistent with DPRK's own recent public statements. We've shared this information with allies and partners and will continue closely coordinating with them as well,” Porter said.

She added that the United States would share more with its allies when U.S. President Joe Biden travels to South Korea and Japan for a visit between May 20 and 24.

The Punggye-ri nuclear test site has remained almost inactive since May 2018, when North Korea demolished all four portals or tunnels in a much-publicized event witnessed by foreign media allowed into the country to do so.

Concerns are growing, however, that recent missile tests are precursors to a nuclear test by the regime, which would be final proof that its self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and longer-range missile tests, which started in late 2017, is definitely over.

Since 2006, Pyongyang has carried out six known nuclear tests, with the last test being conducted at the Punggye-ri testing site in North Hamgyong Province in September 2017.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]