N. Korea seen suffering post-test trouble in Punggye-ri site

Even if North Korea wants to conduct another nuclear test, it may be facing a big hurdle to preparations at its testing site amid signs of topographic damage from the previous experiment, an informed South Korean defense source said Monday.

"The possibility of North Korea's additional provocations remains open all the time," the source said in response to the weeks-long break in its belligerent acts, as the South's Defense Minister Song Young-moon visited the Philippines to participate in the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus session.

The Kim Jong-un regime may be weighing the technological aspects of its nuclear and missile program and political timing, added the source.

The North passed the Oct. 10 founding anniversary of the powerful Workers' Party and the opening of China's communist party congress last week with any provocation.

Apparently, the North has its own reasons for more provocations, given that it's trying to acquire dependable intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with miniaturized nuclear warheads, the source pointed out.

It's also continuing the development of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).

"When it comes to its nuclear and missile development, the process is still going on," the source noted. "North Korea may be waiting for U.S. President Donald Trump to come to Northeast Asia and his message (during the upcoming trip)." Trump is due in South Korea, Japan and China in early November.

But it remains unclear whether the North will be able to carry out a seventh nuclear test in the near future amid reports of continued natural earthquakes near the Punggye-ri test area following the Sept. 3 hydrogen bomb test there with the destructive yield of more than 50 kilotons, according to the source.

"If it tries to send a meaningful message to the world with another nuclear test, it would require a more powerful bomb," added the source. "North Korea will consider whether it will keep testing nuclear weapons there, including a review of topography."

   The latest testing has reportedly caused a series of landslides in the northeastern mountainous region and possibly tunnel collapses.

Citing the recent commercial satellite imagery of the Punggye-ri area, the 38 North, a U.S.-based agency that monitors the North's move, said "disturbances" appear to have taken place "beyond" the test site.

North Korea watchers say the North's leader may plan to declare the completion of the reclusive nation's nuclear weapon and ICBM development in his New Year's address on Jan. 1, 2018.

Source : Yonhap