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World|politics|April 23, 2014 / 10:23 AM
U.S. warns North Korea over any nuclear test

AKIPRESS.COM - nuclear test The United States said Tuesday it was watching the Korean Peninsula closely after reports that North Korea may be planning another nuclear test and urged Pyongyang not to take any step that would threaten regional peace.

The South Korean government said Tuesday that heightened activity had been detected at North Korea’s underground nuclear test site, indicating possible preparations for another atomic test. The South Korea media reports come just before U.S. President Barack Obama is due in Japan and later South Korea, where he will discuss ways to deal with North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Obama is due in Tokyo on Wednesday and in Seoul on Friday.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok as saying that “a lot of activity” was being seen at the Punggye-ri test site. “So our forces are keeping in mind the possibility that North Korea may suddenly conduct a nuclear test in a short period of time, or as in previous cases, deceive us with what appears to be a nuclear test.”

North Korea warned last month it would not rule out a “a new form” of nuclear test after the United Nations Security Council condemned Pyongyang for launching ballistic missiles into the sea.

When asked what Pyongyang meant by a “new form” of nuclear test, North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations said on April 4 that the world would have to “wait and see.”

Nuclear expert Jeffrey Lewis, of the Monterey Institute of International Studies in the United States, said this month that the reference to a new form of test could mean simultaneous detonation of two or more devices as part of a program of more intense nuclear testing expected over the next few years, Reuters said.

While North Korea has detonated several nuclear devices since 2006, analysts doubt it has the technical capability to reliably mount a nuclear warhead on a missile.

Diplomats have said it is possible the U.N. Security Council will respond to last month’s North Korean missile tests by expanding a sanctions blacklist to include more North Korean entities involved in Pyongyang’s missile program. But they said it could take weeks to reach agreement.

China, North Korea’s main ally, has warned against any action that could lead to the escalation of tensions.

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