North Korea May Be Preparing Second Test

Unusual activities were detected in a rugged area in North Korea, causing South Korean authorities to suspect that the communist state might be preparing a second nuclear test, a news report said. Kim Seung-Gyu, head of South Korea's spy agency, told parliament that activity involving vehicles and some 30 to 40 people was under way at Punggyeri in the northeastern county of Kilju, Yonhap news agency reported. ‘From three p.m. (06:00 GMT) today, there have been some unusual movements under way at Punggyeri where we had thought the first nuclear test would be carried out,’ Kim was quoted as saying. ‘We have been closely following developments there to find out whether North Korea is moving to conduct a series of tests as India and Pakistan did,’ he said. An unidentified lawmaker who serves on parliament's intelligence committee quoted Kim as telling the committee that there is a ‘sufficient possibility’ of the North carrying out further nuclear tests. Punggyeri is where vehicle movements and the unloading of large reels of cable were spotted by satellite images last month, prompting speculation that a nuclear test was being prepared.