N.Korea might be preparing nuclear test-US media

SOUTH KOREA: North Korea, which last month defied the international community by test-firing missiles, could now be preparing its first test of a nuclear bomb, U.S. media cited U.S. officials as saying.

Analysts said on Friday North Korea could be trying an even more extreme form of sabre-rattling to force the international community, and Washington in particular, into making concessions to the poor and isolated state.

But a diplomatic official in Seoul familiar with the communist state's nuclear programme was sceptical of the reports and U.S. officials told Reuters they had no new evidence of such a plan.

ABC News on Thursday quoted a senior military official as saying a U.S. intelligence agency had observed suspicious vehicle movement at a suspected North Korean test site.

A senior State Department official, who was also not identified, told the network: "It is the view of the intelligence community that a test is a real possibility."

July's missile tests were widely seen as less a display of military muscle than an often-used tactic by the North Korean government to grab international attention but whose key aim - to win direct talks with the United States - failed.

"Many of the experts ... have been concerned about the possible options on the part of North Korea, including nuclear tests or other forms of military provocation," said Kim Sung-han, head of North America studies at South Korea's Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security.

Seoul, Tokyo, Friday, Reuters,AFP