U.S. warns of Korean nuclear activity Photos seem to show test-site preparations 3 Edition

• Published in: International herald tribune
• Main Author: David E. Sanger and William J. Broad
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris New York Times Company 06.05.2005
• Edition: International edition
• Subjects: Bush, George W; Kim Jong Il; WASHINGTON
• ISSN: 0294-8052

White House and Pentagon officials have been closely monitoring a stream of satellite photographs of North Korea that appear to show rapid, extensive preparations for a nuclear weapons test, including the construction of an official reviewing stand, presumably for President Kim Jong Il, according to American and foreign officials who have been briefed on the photographs. The intelligence official and others familiar with the evidence say it is entirely possible that the activity is an elaborate ruse by Kim, who has refused for 11 months to re-enter talks with the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. But the last threat that Kim made, a warning that he was preparing to turn 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods into bomb fuel, became a reality, the CIA and other intelligence agencies have told Congress in recent months.