North Korea is reportedly preparing its Punggye-ri nuclear test site for international inspectors.

The development was reported by South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing the country's spy agency.

In May, Sky's Tom Cheshire was the only British broadcaster invited to witness the apparent demolition of the facility, although no inspectors were present.

He watched a series of explosions with North Korea state media claiming the site had been completely dismantled in the blasts "to ensure the transparency of discontinuance of nuclear test".

At the time, the deputy director of the North Korea Nuclear Weapons Institute told Sky News that the destruction of the facility had been "conducted with high levels of transparency" in a bid to bring "peace and stability" to the Korean peninsula and the world.

The unnamed official added: "The discontinuance of nuclear tests is an important process in moving towards global nuclear disarmament and we will continue to join hands with all peace-loving people in building a peaceful world, a new independent world where the dreams and ideals of humanity are realised."

The Punggye-ri facility was used for several nuclear weapons tests, including a suspected hydrogen bomb in September 2017.

Following a summit between North and South Korea in September Pyongyang agreed to allow international inspectors to observe a "permanent dismantlement" of its other key missile facilities, and would take additional steps such as closing its main Yongbyon nuclear complex, but only if the United States took "reciprocal measures".

South Korean president Moon Jae-in said he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had agreed that the Korean Peninsula should turn into a "land of peace without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats". </s> North Korea is ready to launch a nuclear test at its Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, the 38 North monitoring group reported.

The 38 North analysis group described the test site as “primed and ready.”

“Commercial satellite imagery of North Korea’s Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site from April 12 shows continued activity around the North Portal, new activity in the Main Administrative Area, and a few personnel around the site’s Command Center,” the North Korea-related analysis website said.

A barrage of recent North Korean missile tests has stoked US fears that Pyongyang may soon develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the US mainland.

There is speculation that the country could be preparing a missile launch, or even another nuclear test - this would be its sixth - to mark the 105th birthday anniversary of its founder Kim Il-Sung on Saturday.

The Voice of America said, quoting US government and other sources, that North Korea “has apparently placed a nuclear device in a tunnel and it could be detonated Saturday AM Korea time.”

US President Donald Trump’s administration has been forceful in its warnings to Pyongyang that leave military options “on the table,” as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said.

The threat carries extra weight after the US strike on a Syrian air base last week.

“We are sending an armada. Very powerful,” Trump had said. “We have submarines. Very powerful. Far more powerful than the aircraft carrier.”
• None North Korea to deliver ‘ruthless blow’ if provoked by US: Envoy

He was referring to a strike group headed by the USS Carl Vinson supercarrier that has been re-routed to the Korean peninsula in a show of force against Kim.

The strike group, which deployed with about 6,500 sailors, is still some way south, conducting exercises with the Australian navy.

The US Navy already has a massive regional presence, including another carrier strike group headquartered at Yokosuka in Japan. </s> North Korea is preparing to allow international inspectors into its Punggye-ri test site, the Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a South Korean politician.

Pyongyang has stopped its nuclear and missile tests over the past year during a rapprochement with the United States and South Korea, and it blew up facilities at Punggye-ri in May in the presence of foreign journalists.

However, its refusal to allow international experts to observe the destruction of the site, which has been the staging ground for all six of its nuclear tests, including its most powerful one – reportedly of an H-bomb – last September, drew criticism that its actions were for show and could be reversed.

At a summit between the North and South’s leaders last month, Pyongyang finally agreed to allow foreign inspectors to observe a “permanent dismantlement” of key missile facilities, and to move towards closing its main Yongbyon nuclear complex in return for reciprocal US measures.

News of the apparent latest gesture came from Kim Min-ki, a member of the ruling Democratic Party, who told reporters in Seoul that intelligence officials had observed what they believed to be preparations for possible inspections at Punggye-ri and the Sohae Satellite launching ground. </s> North Korea is preparing to allow international inspectors into its Punggye-ri test site, the Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a South Korean politician.

Pyongyang has stopped its nuclear and missile tests over the past year during a rapprochement with the United States and South Korea, and it blew up facilities at Punggye-ri in May in the presence of foreign journalists.

However, its refusal to allow international experts to observe the destruction of the site, which has been the staging ground for all six of its nuclear tests, including its most powerful one – reportedly of an H-bomb – last September, drew criticism that its actions were for show and could be reversed.

At a summit between the North and South’s leaders last month, Pyongyang finally agreed to allow foreign inspectors to observe a “permanent dismantlement” of key missile facilities, and to move towards closing its main Yongbyon nuclear complex in return for reciprocal US measures.

News of the apparent latest gesture came from Kim Min-ki, a member of the ruling Democratic Party, who told reporters in Seoul that intelligence officials had observed what they believed to be preparations for possible inspections at Punggye-ri and the Sohae Satellite launching ground.

The South’s National Intelligence Service observed North Koreans “conducting preparation and intelligence activities that seemed to be in preparation for foreign inspectors’ visit,” said Mr Kim, according to Reuters. No major movements were spotted at Yongbyon.

The move to open up Punggye-ri to inspection, if confirmed, would be seen as a confidence-building measure ahead of a proposed second meeting between Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, and Donald Trump, the US president.

The meeting is expected to take place early next year despite concerns in Washington that North Korea is dragging its feet over nuclear disarmament and frustration in Pyongyang that the US has not agreed to ease economic sanctions or an official end to the Korean War of 1950-53.

Washington has repeatedly reminded its regional allies of the need to maintain “maximum pressure” on the North Korean regime to give up its nuclear weapons – a policy that appears to be increasingly at odds with a push from South Korean President Moon Jae-in towards closer economic ties.

The US embassy in Seoul reportedly made the unusual move of contacting major South Korean conglomerates that sent representatives to Pyongyang with President Moon for his September summit with Kim Jong-un.

“The U.S. Embassy in Seoul is known to have directly called key companies to discern the status of the cooperation projects discussed during their visit to the North,” a key official from the presidential Blue House told the JoongAng Ilbo on Tuesday.

Executives from Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG and SK were among 17 business representatives who accompanied President Moon on his three-day trip.

North Korea is likely to depend on South Korean investment for its future economic development. “It appears that the U.S. government, along with the objective of grasping the situation in regard to North Korea-related projects, is attempting to synchronise the speed between the South and the United States ahead of North-U.S. denuclearisation negotiations,” said the source.

Teleconferences in late September between the US Treasury Department and seven South Korean banks over sanctions enforcement were also viewed as a sign that Washington is nervous that inter-Korean relations appears to be advancing faster than denuclearisation talks. </s> • North Korea's primary nuclear test site remains "fully operational" and could be used for further testing in the future, according to a report released Monday.
• Monday's report comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made the announcement on April 20 that his regime would cease its nuclear and long-range missile tests and close the mountainous Punggye-ri nuclear test site, where the regime has conducted all six of its nuclear tests.
• Some experts have suggested that another test at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site could totally destroy it and potentially even cause a mountain to collapse.

North Korea's primary nuclear test site remains "fully operational" and could be used for further testing in the future, 38 North, a watchdog dedicated to analyzing the rogue state, warned Monday.

"North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site, where North Korea has conducted six acknowledged underground detonations is still, as far as we can tell, fully operational," 38 North reported.

Following North Korea's sixth nuclear test in September, commercial satellite imagery reportedly revealed significant tunneling in one area of the site up until early March. This activity appeared to slow down toward the end of March, but did not stop entirely into early April. According to 38 North, this suggests "that either the tunnel was complete and ready for future renewed testing or that the slowdown simply mirrored the ongoing political changes underway."

With that said, some experts have suggested another test at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site could totally destroy it and potentially even cause a mountain to collapse.

Monday's report comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made the announcement on April 20 that his regime would cease its nuclear and long-range missile tests and close the mountainous Punggye-ri nuclear test site, where it has conducted all six of its nuclear tests.

"From April 21, North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles," the Korean Central News Agency said, according to the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency. "The North will shut down a nuclear test site in the country's northern side to prove the vow to suspend nuclear test."

Kim's announcement was met with applause by President Donald Trump, who took to Twitter on Friday and described the move as "Progress being made for all!"

Trump is set to meet with Kim to discuss the rogue state's nuclear program in the near future, though on Sunday he tweeted, "We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work out, and maybe they won't - only time will tell....But the work I am doing now should have been done a long time ago!" In a separate tweet on Sunday, Trump incorrectly claimed Kim's regime had "agreed to denuclearization" — North Korea has not indicated it will give up its existing nuclear weapons.

North Korea conducted a slew of long-range missile tests last year as part of its larger ambitions to develop a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the mainland US. This generated outrage across the international community and resulted in harsh economic sanctions being leveled against Pyongyang. But the tide began to shift in early 2018 as North and South Korea, historic enemies, renewed dialogue for the first time in roughly two years. This has also led to a cautious warming of relations between Pyongyang and Washington. </s> North Korea is preparing its Punggye-ri nuclear test site for international inspectors, the Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday, citing South Korea's spy agency.

SEOUL: North Korea is preparing its Punggye-ri nuclear test site for international inspectors, the Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday, citing South Korea's spy agency.

While North Korea has stopped nuclear and missile tests in the past year, it did not allow international inspections of its dismantling of Punggye-ri in May, drawing criticism that the action was merely for show and could be reversed.

North Korea agreed to allow international inspectors to observe a "permanent dismantlement" of key missile facilities, and take further steps, such as closing its main Yongbyon nuclear complex, in return for reciprocal measures by the United States, the South’s President Moon Jae-in has said.

His September comments followed a summit with the North's Kim Jong Un. </s> North Korean monitoring service 38 North said Wednesday the country’s Punggye-ri nuclear site is “primed and ready” for a sixth nuclear test.

“The activity during the past six weeks is suggestive of the final preparations for a test,” 38 North analyst Joseph Bermudez told CNN.

Their prediction comes as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday that North Korea may have the capability to deliver missiles equipped with sarin nerve gas.

He and other analysts pore over commercial satellite imagery of the testing site, looking for signs of activity similar to that prior to other tests.

Bermudez and his colleague Jack Liu correctly predicted the last nuclear test, in September 2016. Since late February they have been warning of increased activity at the site, particularly new equipment arriving, activity at the command center, and excavation and water pumping from entrances to the underground testing site.

“We watch what changes from image to image,” he said. “We take the current image and look back several months and compare it to what was happening then.”

After an uptick in recent months, recent satellite images show excavation work and water pumping appears to have stopped, Liu and Bermudez said, indicating to them that a test may be imminent.

Speaking at an event in Tokyo Thursday, Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said “North Korea’s nuclear program is showing steady progress.”

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests in total, three of them under current leader Kim Jong Un, who has significantly ramped up the country’s program.

“North Korea believes the only way to deter the US from attacking them and maintaining the power of the Kim regime is by the possession of nuclear weapons,” Bermudez said.

North Korean officials told CNN in Pyongyang this week that the decision by US President Donald Trump to bomb a Syrian airfield, as well as his dispatching a US navy carrier strike group to northern Asia, showed the importance of the nuclear program.

“The aggressive acts of war on the part of the United States are getting increasingly reckless,” the official said.

Trump has promised to “be effective” on North Korea, and called on China to play a role containing the regime’s nuclear program. Following a talk between him and Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday, Trump said China “wants to do the right thing.”

Bermudez said the regime has “repeatedly stated that if Libya or Iraq had nuclear weapons the US would not have attacked them.”

North Korea will mark the “Day of the Sun” on April 15, to mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of the country’s founder Kim Il Sung. The date has typically been a key one for weapons tests and other displays of strength.

However, none of the five previous nuclear tests have been conducted around the anniversary, and while Bermudez said the evidence suggests there is “probably a sixth coming up,” ultimately preparations did not mean much without a final say so from the country’s supreme leader.

“It really depends on one person and that’s Kim Jong Un,” he said. “No one else is going to make the decision.”

Previous years have seen grand military parades, mass celebrations and weapons tests conducted on the “Day of the Sun.”

“It’s a demonstration of national pride,” Bermudez said, adding that satellite imagery appeared to show thousands of people and hundreds of vehicles practicing this week for the event.

Ahead of this year’s anniversary, Kim presided over a drill by special operations units, helicopter gunships and other units, according to state news agency KCNA.

“(Kim said) those combatants carrying out their duties independently and proactively were reminiscent of fierce tigers,” KCNA reported Thursday, adding that the timing of the drill was “significant” given Kim Il Sung’s upcoming memorial.

Often the “Day of the Sun” is a key time for Pyongyang to show off its latest armaments. In 2012, months after Kim Jong Un became leader following his father’s death, North Korea unveiled what it claimed was its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in a huge military parade.

Last year, South Korean officials said the North tested an intermediate-range Musudan missile, but it failed.

The test was not publicized inside North Korea. Weapons expert Markus Schiller told CNN last week the Musudan is likely North Korea’s most domestically developed missile, unlike others that are based on Soviet or Chinese designs, making it a key point of pride for the regime.

In terms of national pride though, nothing comes close to the nuclear program, and Pyongyang may decide that the best way to honor its late leader — and defy pressure from the US and China — is with a sixth nuclear test. </s> An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale was detected around North Korea’s nuclear test site on Sunday, the Seoul military said indicating that Pyongyang has conducted its sixth nuclear test.

The artificial quake wave was detected around the Punggye-ri site in the North Hamgyeong province, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The military said it was analysing whether the temblor came from a nuke test, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Seoul’s weather agency said that the seismic wave was recorded at 12.36 p.m.

The USGS said the epicentre was recorded 24 km east-northeast of Sungjibaegam and zero km deep.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has convened an emergency National Security Council (NSC) meeting following the earthquake and a report by North Korean state-media that Kim Jong-un inspected a hydrogen bomb being loaded into a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) after it claimed to have made a “more developed nuke”.

Since 2006, North Korea has carried out five nuclear tests, including two last year. </s> North Korea is preparing its Punggye-ri nuclear test site for international inspectors, the Yonhap news agency says, citing South Korea's spy agency.

While North Korea has stopped nuclear and missile tests in the past year, it did not allow international inspections of its dismantling of Punggye-ri in May, drawing criticism that the action was merely for show and could be reversed.

North Korea agreed to allow international inspectors to observe a "permanent dismantlement" of key missile facilities, and take further steps, such as closing its main Yongbyon nuclear complex, in return for reciprocal measures by the United States, the South's President Moon Jae-in has said.

His September comments followed a summit with the North's Kim Jong-un.
U.S.-based monitoring group 38 North says satellite imagery of North Korea's Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site indicates that preparation for a sixth nuclear weapons test is underway.