| The Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Korea is seen in this May 14, 2018, satellite photo. Korea Times file |
Recent satellite imagery of North Korea's nuclear test site has shown activities that may suggest additional tests following what will be the country's seventh nuclear weapon test, a U.S. monitor said Wednesday.
The satellite imagery, acquired Tuesday, showed new "construction activity" near Tunnel No. 4 at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, according to Beyond Parallel, a project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
"The most recent image shows new indications of activity below the entrance to Tunnel No. 4," it said in a report published on its website, adding the activity strongly suggested "an effort to re-enable it for potential future testing."
The report noted activities at Tunnel No. 3, which began about four months ago, are "apparently now complete and ready for an oft-speculated seventh nuclear test."
The report comes after South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said the North appears to have finished all preparations for its seventh nuclear weapon test and that only a "political decision" remained before Pyongyang actually goes ahead with a test.
The country conducted its sixth and last such test in September 2017.
Beyond Parallel said the most recent imagery also showed construction of new buildings or modifications to existing buildings, which it said may suggest are "efforts to further re-enable the facility" for future tests. (Yonhap)