S. Korea: North preps for nuke test

Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea

Recent satellite images show North Korea is digging a new underground tunnel in what appears to be preparation for a third nuclear test, according to South Korean intelligence officials.

The excavation at North Korea’s northeast Punggye-ri site, where nuclear tests were conducted in 2006 and 2009, is in its final stages, according to a report by intelligence officials that was shared Monday with The Associated Press.

Its release comes as North Korea prepares to launch a long-range rocket that Washington and others say is a cover for testing missile technology that could be used to fire on the United States.

The Obama administration said Monday it would consider both a rocket launch and an underground nuclear test as highly provocative and leave Pyongyang more isolated.

“In each case, this would be an indication of North Korea’s decision at the leadership level not to take the steps that are necessary to allow North Korea to end its isolation, to rejoin the community of nations and to do something about the extreme poverty and depravation that its people suffer,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told a news briefing in Washington.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and current Security Council president, told CNN on Monday that “either or both developments would be a blatant violation of North Korea’s international obligations under Security Council resolutions.”