Tuesday, April 20, 2010

North Korea readying for 3rd nuclear test: report

North Korea , After being silent for a While , are starting to make some noise again .
Maybe a Nuclear test Maybe not , All part of the Norks Game that will never end and nobody will win !



(Reuters) - North Korea is preparing for a third atomic test that may come in May or June, South Korean broadcaster YTN reported on Tuesday, an act that could further isolate Pyongyang and complicate already troubled nuclear diplomacy.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan dismissed the report, saying Seoul had seen no evidence, and the U.S. State Department also voiced doubts about its accuracy.

"If North Korea was making such preparations, there would be related circumstances that can be detected ... there is no intelligence on such circumstances," Yu told a news briefing.

"We are skeptical of that report," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington.

YTN quoted an unnamed diplomat as saying that preparations began in February and involve a level of technical proficiency that is significantly upgraded from the first two tests, considered partial successes at best.

North Korea has boycotted international nuclear disarmament talks for over a year and put conditions on its return that include ending U.N. sanctions imposed after its last test in May 2009 that dealt a severe blow to its feeble economy.

North Korea, scrutinized by U.S. spy satellites, can easily signal it is preparing for a test by moving equipment but that does not mean a blast is imminent, analysts said.

A third test would improve North Korea's ability to make nuclear weapons but also decrease its supply of fissile material, thought to be enough for six to eight nuclear bombs, experts say.

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