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Roundup: DPRK's 5th nuke test seems imminent: S.Korean media

Xinhua, April 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s fifth nuclear test seemed imminent as Pyongyang appeared to have completed preparations for another nuclear detonation, several South Korean news organizations reported on Saturday citing military and government sources.

An unidentified South Korean military official was quoted by local newspaper Donga Ilbo as saying that the DPRK seemed to have been in a state of pushing a button at any time to detonate another nuclear device as the country actually completed all preparations for nuclear test.

The official said South Korea's military is closely tracking the relevant moves with all available reconnaissance assets as Pyongyang can carry out the fifth nuclear test on Saturday or Sunday.

Concerns spread here about the DPRK's fifth nuclear test or another ballistic missile launch ahead of the 65th anniversary of the Korean People's Army that falls on April 25.

On April 15, a major DPRK holiday to celebrate the birthday of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and the grandfather of current DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, Pyongyang launched a Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile from a mobile launcher.

The launch of the Musudan missile, capable of targeting a part of the U.S. territory such as Guam and Alaska, failed as it is assessed to have exploded in mid-air several seconds after liftoff. Seoul said it was in violation of UN Security Council resolutions that ban any test of the DPRK's ballistic missile technology.

Citing South Korea's military authorities, local broadcaster SBS reported that most of vehicles and equipment had been withdrawn from the DPRK's main nuclear test site at Punggye-ri in the country's northeastern region where Pyongyang conducted all of its four nuclear tests.

It was an imminent sign shown in the DPRK's fourth nuclear test in January, SBS reported, as equipment and personnel are required to withdraw from the site before nuclear detonations.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and the U.S.-South Korea combined forces command entered into an emergency standby from Friday evening as the DPRK was seen as having completed preparations for nuclear test, SBS reported.

Possibility got to run high for another DPRK nuclear detonation since top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un gave orders on March 15 to test a nuclear warhead and ballistic rockets capable of carrying the warhead "in a short time" to enhance credibility of its nuclear strikes.

South Korea's defense ministry has estimated that if the DPRK stages another nuclear test, it would be an underground test of a nuclear warhead or a launch of a ballistic missile carrying a detonator from which nuclear materials are removed.

It is believed that the DPRK would test its nuclear device within two weeks given that the historic Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) congress is expected to kick off on May 7. The 7th party congress would be the first such event since 1980.

But Yonhap news agency quoted a government source as saying that the activities of equipment and personnel are still being found at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, indicating that another nuclear test is not imminent.

Another source was quoted as saying that candidate dates for the fifth nuclear test would be around the April 25 Korean People's Army's founding day or right before the 7th WRK congress.

If Pyongyang pushes ahead with another nuclear detonation, a time gap between nuclear tests would be shortened severely from the so-called three-year cycle. The DPRK's first nuclear test was conducted in October 2006, followed by the second in May 2009, the third in February 2013 and the fourth in January 2016.

South Korea has warned of tougher sanctions on the DPRK if the country tests another nuclear device. UN Security Council adopted harsher-than-ever sanctions against Pyongyang in early March over the DPRK's fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and the launch of a long-range rocket on Feb. 7.

According to Japan's Asahi Shimbun, South Korea, the United States and Japan had agreed to push for the complete ban on crude oil exports to the DPRK if Pyongyang stages the fifth nuclear test. The agreement was reached on April 19 when vice foreign ministers of the three countries met in Seoul to discuss the DPRK's nuclear program. Enditem