This Dec. 24, 2012 satellite image provided by GeoEye shows North Koreas Punggye-ri nuclear test cility. This and other 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, Jan. 25, Online Higher Education 2013. 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 be sealing the tunnel into a mountainside where a nuclear device would be detonated. But it remains difficult to discern North Koreas true intentions as a test would be conducted underground. The analysis was provided to The Associated Press by 38 North, the website of U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. (AP Photo/GeoEye Satellite Image)
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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.
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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 neasatellite view Satellite images suggest NKorea ready for nuclear test US institute saysr future.
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.
This Dec. 24, 2012 satellite image provided by GeoEye shows North Koreas Punggye-ri nuclear test cility. This and other 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, Jan. 25, 2013. 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 be sealing the tunnel into a mountainside where a nuclear device would be detonated. But it remains difficult to discern North Koreas true intentions as a test would be conducted underground. The analysis was provided to The Associated Press by 38 North, the website of U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. (AP Photo/GeoEye Satellite Image)
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.
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But it remains difficult to discern North Koreas true intentions, as a test would be conducted underground.
North Koreas 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 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.
Anniversaries related to members of North Koreas ruling dynasty, such as former leader Kim Jong Il, who died in December 2011, are marked with great nre in the authoritarian nation.
The North said a nuclear test was part of upcoming action but did not say exactly when or where it would take place.
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 Wednesdays photo, the pile had shrunk, which could indicate operations have begun to seal the tunnel,Online Education. according to the analysis.
South Korean media have cited intelligence officials as saying technical preparations appear complete, and the North could be ready to test within days of a decision to do so.
While the test site appears to continue to be at a high state of readiness, its anyones 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 Ils birthday on Feb. 16, said Joel Wit, a former U.S. State Department official and the editor of 38 North.
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.
38 North concludes that the Punggye-ri site, in the countrys 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.
Associated Press writer Lolita Baldor contributed to this report.
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 its assessment of the preparations at Punggye-ri, 38 North noted that there was considerable snowll 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.
