Breaking News: Activity spotted at North Korea nuclear test site
SEOUL (Reuters): South Korean officials said on Friday that activity has been spotted near a suspected nuclear test site in North Korea but there is no evidence to suggest Pyongyang is about to test another atomic device.
ABC News earlier quoted a U.S. defense official as saying that North Korea appeared to have made preparations for a second nuclear test. Its first, on October 9 last year, drew worldwide condemnation and punitive U.N. sanctions.
"We think they've put everything in place to conduct a test without any notice or warning," the U.S. television network quoted the official as saying.
In response, a U.S. official said he had no reason to believe North Korea was preparing for a test -- and there was in fact considerable uncertainty within the U.S. government about whether Pyongyang had any intent to conduct one.
"Certain activities have been detected near a suspected North Korean nuclear test site but currently there are no specific indications related to an additional test," said a South Korean source familiar with the North's nuclear program.
[OOC/Disclaimer: The fake article above is NOT ORIGINAL NEWS and is quoted from an article off the Reuters newswire. For the real story, please read the original news article on the Reuters website (Jan 5, 2007): link ]
[ooc/Disclaimer: The news article below (Tokyo) was written by ai_ling and is only true for CIA game-verse.]
TOKYO - Faced with fresh reports from Reuters and other newswires regarding North Korea's suspected preparations for a second nuclear test, the Japanese State Department has declined to comment. Officials have refused interviews on the matter since this paper began contacting them three hours ago. An unnamed source from within the Cabinet said, on condition of anonymity, "Many meetings are currently being held. The chief question here is whether our own intelligence network forsaw the second nuclear test this soon."
From various sources it would seem as if remarks made last year by Yoshio Omori [ooc: link] regarding Japan's CIA were not taken seriously enough. A seperate source expressed concern that, "It's unclear at the moment, but some of us believe that current Agency leadership is perhaps somewhat unqualified."
Japan's CIA is currently headed by Kunimitsu Tezuka, reported to be the youngest agency director in its short history. Uncomfirmed sources have indicated that Prime Minister Abe has placed Tezuka under probation again following rumors of Tezuka's deviant sexuality.
Eyewitnesses, including prominent officials, have dismissed these rumors as biased and unfounded, and have suggested that the rumors are motivated by professional jealousy. Prime Minister Abe's office, when queried, stated, "We fully support the decisions made by the Agency and its management."
ABC News earlier quoted a U.S. defense official as saying that North Korea appeared to have made preparations for a second nuclear test. Its first, on October 9 last year, drew worldwide condemnation and punitive U.N. sanctions.
"We think they've put everything in place to conduct a test without any notice or warning," the U.S. television network quoted the official as saying.
In response, a U.S. official said he had no reason to believe North Korea was preparing for a test -- and there was in fact considerable uncertainty within the U.S. government about whether Pyongyang had any intent to conduct one.
"Certain activities have been detected near a suspected North Korean nuclear test site but currently there are no specific indications related to an additional test," said a South Korean source familiar with the North's nuclear program.
[OOC/Disclaimer: The fake article above is NOT ORIGINAL NEWS and is quoted from an article off the Reuters newswire. For the real story, please read the original news article on the Reuters website (Jan 5, 2007): link ]
[ooc/Disclaimer: The news article below (Tokyo) was written by ai_ling and is only true for CIA game-verse.]
TOKYO - Faced with fresh reports from Reuters and other newswires regarding North Korea's suspected preparations for a second nuclear test, the Japanese State Department has declined to comment. Officials have refused interviews on the matter since this paper began contacting them three hours ago. An unnamed source from within the Cabinet said, on condition of anonymity, "Many meetings are currently being held. The chief question here is whether our own intelligence network forsaw the second nuclear test this soon."
From various sources it would seem as if remarks made last year by Yoshio Omori [ooc: link] regarding Japan's CIA were not taken seriously enough. A seperate source expressed concern that, "It's unclear at the moment, but some of us believe that current Agency leadership is perhaps somewhat unqualified."
Japan's CIA is currently headed by Kunimitsu Tezuka, reported to be the youngest agency director in its short history. Uncomfirmed sources have indicated that Prime Minister Abe has placed Tezuka under probation again following rumors of Tezuka's deviant sexuality.
Eyewitnesses, including prominent officials, have dismissed these rumors as biased and unfounded, and have suggested that the rumors are motivated by professional jealousy. Prime Minister Abe's office, when queried, stated, "We fully support the decisions made by the Agency and its management."