North Korea is prepared to carry out its third nuclear test, a US think tank said Friday, citing recent satellite photos of its test site, according to dpa. The images showed a state of readiness was being maintained at the Punggye-ri site and flood damage that the site suffered in summer and autumn has quickly been repaired, the Washington-based US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said on its website 38 North. "A third test is expected even in the dead of winter," it said. The analysts said that a detonation could be triggered in as little as two weeks once the communist nation's leadership decides to go ahead. However, a satellite photo from November showeing water streaming out of the suspected test tunnel and still present almost a month later, could pose a problem. -- SPA
