US spies North Korea nuclear test preparations

US spy satellites have detected what may be preparations for North Korea’s first test of a nuclear weapon, although analysts believe it could be a calculated ruse on Pyongyang’s part, a US defence official said today.

The satellite images show North Korea has dug and refilled a significant hole in the ground at a suspected test site in Gilju in the north-eastern part of the country, said the official.

The hole was dug in a manner consistent with preparations for an underground nuclear test, although it is not known whether a weapon was deposited inside, the official said.

In addition, they have built some bleachers a sufficient distance from the hole, presumably for officials to view a test, the official said.

At the US State Department, an official said the US has detected nothing that would suggest imminent or unusual activity by North Korea.

Although North Korea has claimed it has nuclear weapons, and US intelligence believes it does, a test would confirm the extent of their capabilities.

The North Koreans also have a good idea when US spy satellites are overhead - the US does not have enough aloft to watch the country constantly – and are capable of making such preparations solely to cause a reaction among its adversaries, the official said.

Separately, a senior Japanese Defence Agency official said that Japan’s government had information that North Korea might be preparing for a nuclear test.

Japan threatened today to put North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme before the UN Security Council next month unless six-nation talks on the dispute show progress.

There have been several recent reports of apparent planning for a possible test. The New York Times reported today that the US government has informed Japan and South Korea about the satellite imagery.

On Tuesday, South Korea’s mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo reported that US satellite photos showed the frequent movement of trucks and the placement of cranes and other equipment at Gilju.

The six-nation talks aimed at getting North Korea to forgo its nuclear ambitions have been stalled for nearly a year.

They involve North and South Korea, the US, China, Japan and Russia.

North Korea has boycotted the talks since June and today reaffirmed it would stay away unless the US drops what it called hostile policy toward Kim Jong Il’s communist regime.