July 22nd 2023.
Experts on North Korea have agreed that satellite photos suggest the nuclear test site at Punggye-ri – which was supposedly destroyed in 2018 – has been restored. This could be a sign that Kim Jong-un is preparing to test another nuclear bomb.
The situation is further aggravated as North Korea announced that the deployment of US aircraft carriers, bombers or armed submarines in South Korea could meet the criteria for their use of nukes.
Jacob Bogle, a researcher who has created an extensive map of the country based on satellite photos, said that the site was "ready as soon as Kim Jong-un gives the orders." He added that, although there are no indications of an imminent test, the area is maintained with the readiness to act as soon as the orders arrive.
Olli Heinonen, the former deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, concurred that tunnel three had been restored and was likely test-ready. However, he highlighted the risk of radiation from the blast getting into the water supply, which could enter food chains and accumulate in agricultural products, fish, meat, and eventually, people.
Dr. Heinonen further noted that the 2017 detonation of 140 megatons could have caused cracking of the rock, which could be a source of water seepage.
Last year, North Korea codified a new, expansive nuclear law that declared its status as a nuclear-armed state ‘irreversible’. Ankit Panda from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace suggested that North Korea may have interpreted the recent US submarine visit to South Korea as meeting the criteria for nuclear use.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
