Recent satellite imagery of North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site does not suggest imminent preparations for a new nuclear experiment despite apparent maintenance activity related to one of the underground tunnels there, a U.S. monitor said Thursday.

Citing imagery captured Tuesday, Beyond Parallel, a project of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, released the analysis as Seoul and Washington have assessed the North as having completed preparations for what would be its seventh nuclear test at the site.

“Although the actual decision to conduct a seventh nuclear test rests entirely in the hands of (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un, the recent activity observed at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility does not suggest imminent preparations for a seventh nuclear test,” the monitor said in an analysis piece on its website.

The recent satellite image showed activity at the site’s main administration and support area, it said, noting that the activity is likely to be related
to the ongoing maintenance of Tunnel No. 3 given that no activity has been observed at the collapsed Tunnels No. 1, 2 and 4.

Beyond Parallel noted that the reasons for the long-anticipated seventh nuclear test are unknown, but activity in and around Tunnel No. 3 is of concern for both Seoul and Washington.

“These concerns have become heightened in the wake of North Korea’s provocative ballistic missile tests over the past year, as well as the Jan. 16, 2024, statement ordering the abolishment of ‘the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country of the DPRK,'” it said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

According to its state media, Pyongyang has decided to abolish agencies in charge of inter-Korean affairs at its recent session of the rubber-stamp Supreme People’s Assembly.

They include the committee, as well as the National Economic Cooperation Bureau and the Kumgangsan International Tourism Administration.

Source: Yonhap News Agency