A NUCLEAR TEST IN NORTH KOREA?

N. KOREA LOOKS TECHNICALLY SET FOR NUKE TEST: U.S. THINK TANK

Lee Chi-dong

Yonhap, December 29, 2012

North Korea appears to be ready to conduct a nuclear test in as little as two weeks once a political decision is made to move forward, a U.S. think tank said Friday in an assessment based on satellite imagery.

"Satellite photos as recent as December 13 show that Pyongyang is determined to maintain a state of readiness at the area of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, where a third test is expected even in the dead of winter," the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies said on its website, 38 North.

The institute scrutinized several satellite photos of the North's nuclear test site, taken by GeoEye, a commercial geospatial information provider, in March and April and then again on Oct. 3, Nov. 19, Dec. 2 and Dec. 13.

A previously unidentified structure was spotted that may be intended to protect data-gathering equipment from inclement weather, the institute said.

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