N. Korea Preparing Fourth Nuclear Test: South

By C. J. Refsland on April 8, 2013 • ( 0 )

‘You will hear of wars and rumors of wars’

North Korea appears to be preparing a fourth nuclear test as well as a provocative missile launch, South Korea said on Monday, despite an unusually blunt call from China for restraint.

Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-Jae told lawmakers there were “signs” that another test was in the pipeline, with intelligence reports showing heightened activity at the North’s Punggye-ri atomic test site, according to AFP.

“We are trying to figure out whether it is a genuine preparation for a nuclear test or just a ploy to heap more pressure on us and the US,” the JoongAng Ilbo daily cited a senior South Korean government official as saying.

It was the North’s third nuclear test in February and subsequent UN sanctions that kick-started the cycle of escalating military tensions on the Korean peninsula.

While North Korea has made no secret of the fact that it intends to carry out further nuclear tests, most analysts believe a detonation in the current climate would be a provocative step too far, even for Pyongyang.

Intelligence reports suggest Pyongyang has readied two mid-range missiles on mobile launchers on its east coast, and is aiming at a test-firing before the April 15 birthday of late founding leader Kim Il-Sung.

Japan has ordered its armed forces to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, a defense ministry spokesman in Tokyo said Monday.

A missile launch would be highly provocative, especially in light of the recent rebuke by its sole ally China and a U.S. concession to delay its own planned missile test.

“No one should be allowed to throw a region, even the whole world, into chaos for selfish gains,” Chinese President Xi Jinping told an international forum on Sunday.

Although he did not mention North Korea by name, Xi’s remarks were taken as a clear warning to the regime in Pyongyang, which is hugely dependent on China’s economic and diplomatic support.

On Saturday Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had told UN chief Ban Ki-moon that Beijing would “not allow troublemaking on China’s doorstep”.

Israel National News.