Choe Sang-Hun
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA—North Korea appears to be preparing for its third underground nuclear test even as it presses ahead with assembling a long-range rocket for its planned launching of a satellite this month, a South Korean government spokesman said Sunday.
Unconfirmed South Korean news reports in the past two years have claimed that North Korea was digging new tunnels at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site in Kilju, near the northeastern tip of the country, to follow up on two underground tests it conducted there in 2006 and 2009.
On Sunday, the government spokesman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he said he could not talk on the record about intelligence matters, said satellite images showed a growing pile of earth near the entrance of one tunnel.
Government analysts said they considered it a potential sign of preparations for a test. A large amount of earth is needed to seal a tunnel before detonating a nuclear device inside.
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