"North Korea Is Working on a 'Shortcut' in the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site #3...Movement to Suggest Resumption of Nuclear Tests" by Cho Sang-jin for VOA Korea

This is a move similar to that analysed by former UN Security Council sanctions committee member Katsuhisa Furukawa through two recent satellite image analyses.

In a report on the analysis of satellite photos of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, which was released at the end of last month, Furukawa, the former member of the committee, caught active preparations for a nuclear test at the southern entrance to the tunnel 3, one of the four tunnels in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, which had never been used for a nuclear test in the past.

At the time, the report said that logs and piles of dirt were newly discovered on the site of the demolished building near the south entrance, and the number and movement of vehicles were also observed.

In addition, a new building and a square structure covered with a tarpaulin were newly discovered around the south entrance, and it was analysed that it is highly likely to be used for excavation to make the secondary entrance to the south of the 3rd tunnel.

In addition, through an additional analysis report released on the 6th, North Korea evaluated that the second entrance was installed in Tunnel 3 of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site as of the 28th of last month and started excavation inside the tunnel, so that it can be used for a potential nuclear weapons test. It has been analysed that the restoration work of Tunnel 3 is still in progress.