South Korean military says the North appears poised to conduct nuclear and ICBM tests
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military intelligence agency told lawmakers Wednesday that North Korea has likely completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test and is close to test-firing a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States.
In a closed-door hearing, the agency also said some advance units of North Korean troops sent to Russia may have arrived at battlefronts as the forces prepare to move to the Kursk region, where Russia has struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion, according to two lawmakers who attended the meeting.
Earlier this month, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told The Associated Press that he expected North Korea to stage major provocations like nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests around the U.S. election to dial up pressure on Washington and its allies.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has also flaunted his military nuclear program in recent months, testing various missile systems and disclosing a secretive facility for producing weapons-grade uranium in September.
The agency believes that North Korea has finished preparations to conduct a nuclear test at its testing ground in the northeastern town of Punggye-ri, with the detonation likely to be carried out at tunnel No. 3, said Lee Seong Kweun, one of the lawmakers who attended the hearing. North Korea conducted its sixth and last nuclear test in 2017.
The agency also said it’s detecting signs that the North will soon be ready to test launch an ICBM designed to reach the U.S. mainland, including the placement of a launch vehicle and a missile, said Lee and fellow lawmaker Park Sunwon. The agency believes the ICBM test could take place some time in November.
“We cannot specify the exact location