US cites signs of North Korea preparing for nuclear test

White House and Pentagon officials are closely monitoring a recent stream of satellite photographs of North Korea that appear to show rapid, extensive preparations for a nuclear weapons test, including the construction of a reviewing stand, presumably for dignitaries, according to American and foreign officials who have been briefed on the imagery.

North Korea has never tested a nuclear weapon. Bush administration officials, when asked on Thursday about the burst of activity at a suspected test site in the northeastern part of the country, cautioned that satellites could not divine the intentions of Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s leader, and said it was possible that he was putting on a show for American spy satellites. —NYT