Korean Nuclear Horn Prepares For Another Test

Satellite imagery shows North Korea digging test tunnel at nuclear proving ground

By Mike Firn, Tokyo
6:16AM GMT 31 Dec 2015

Work at Punggye-ri continues after experts said they believed Pyongyang may be less than five years from having thermonuclear weapon

North Korea is digging a new test tunnel at its nuclear proving site in Punggye-ri, according to the latest satellite imagery.

High-resolution photographs show fresh signs of excavation and a canopy over the tunnel`s entrance, US-based 38 North reports on its website.

Work at Punggye-ri continues after experts said they believed Pyongyang may be less than five years from having thermonuclear weapon
Satellite imagrey has in the past been used to spot signs of impending tests at the facility and experts believe the hermit state may be five years from having a thermonuclear weapon, with seven times the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

The images also show new activity at a test tunnel started in May 2013. It is not clear whether the work is for maintenance or for some other purpose, says the group, run by the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and headed by a former US State Department official.

The new tunnel, providing access to Mount Musan, is in a different area from the three existing sites. Excavation work has caused erosion, leaving the surface of the mountain cracked and weak, 38 North says.

North Korea has carried out three nuclear tests since 2006.The last, in February 2013, was seen as a show of strength by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who came to power just over two years earlier.

The test provoked global condemnation and sanctions.

There are concerns that tensions on the Korean Peninsula will rise again following the death of one of Mr Kim’s closest advisors.

Kim Yang-gon was killed in a car crash on Tuesday, according to the state news agency.

He helped broker a deal with South Korea in August to try to reduce military tensions. Follow-up vice-ministerial talks this month failed to reach agreement on how to improve relations.

Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, said: “North Korea has repeatedly demonstrated it rejects implementing the political and economic reforms necessary to justify a principled South Korean engagement strategy. Nor will the regime moderate its aggressive foreign policy to refrain from threats of nuclear incineration and highly insulting diatribes against President Park Geun-hye.”