[AJU NEWS DB]
Recent satellite imagery shows North Korea is excavating a new tunnel at its nuclear test site, but there are no signs of an imminent test, a US research institute said Thursday.
The new tunnel is in a new area of the Punggye-ri site where three others have already been excavated for previous nuclear tests, the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said on its website, 38North.
The nuclear-armed North has conducted three nuclear tests -- in 2006, 2009 and 2013 -- at Punggye-ri in the northeastern part of North Korea.
"While there are no indications that a nuclear test is imminent, the new tunnel adds to North Korea's ability to conduct additional detonations at Punggye-ri over the coming years if it chooses to do so," it said.
The institute said a review of imagery over the past year showed significant construction in the area has begun in April.
In October, fears had grown that North Korea could conduct a fresh nuclear test, after it confirmed the restart of its mothballed nuclear reactor which had been used to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
Charles Lim
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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