Tunnel linked to looming North Korea nuclear test? South Korea thinks so

By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services

Updated at 8:35 a.m. ET: Recent satellite images show North Korea is digging a new underground tunnel in what appears to be preparation for a third nuclear test, according to South Korean intelligence officials.

The excavation at North Korea's northeast Punggye-ri site, where nuclear tests were conducted in 2006 and 2009, is in its final stages, according to a report by intelligence officials that was shared Monday with The Associated Press.

Its release comes as North Korea prepares to launch a long-range rocket with an observation satellite that Washington and others say is a cover for testing missile technology that could be used to fire on the United States.

North Korea shows off its launch pad, satellite

Observers fear a repeat of 2009, when international criticism of the North's last long-range rocket launch prompted Pyongyang to walk away from nuclear disarmament negotiations and, weeks later, conduct its second nuclear test. A year later, 50 South Korean were killed in attacks blamed on the North.

"North Korea is covertly preparing for a third nuclear test, which would be another grave provocation," said the report, which cited U.S. commercial satellite photos taken April 1. "North Korea is digging up a new underground tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, in addition to its existing two underground tunnels, and it has been confirmed that the excavation works are in the final stages."

Inside North Korea: Closely watched rocket launch poses risks

Dirt believed to have been brought from other areas is piled at the tunnel entrance, the report said, something experts say is needed to fill up underground tunnels before a nuclear test. The dirt indicates a "high possibility" North Korea will stage a nuclear test, the report said, as plugging tunnels was the final step taken during its two previous nuclear tests.

A U.S. official told NBC News it was possible that North Korea could be about to test a thermonuclear weapon, dozens of times more powerful than the weapons they have tested in the past. The North has carried out significant research into both "boosted fission" and thermonuclear weapons development in recent years. However, without testing, the North could not be certain that such a weapon is reliable.

North Korea announced plans last month to launch the satellite using a three-stage rocket during mid-April celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung.

Casino cheats' camera scam discovered after 3 years

A three-year plot involving hidden cameras at card tables to help gamblers cheat the Kangwon Land Casino in South Korea has finally been discovered.

Local police have detained two employees of the casino after wireless cameras in two card boxes were found, the Korea JoongAng Daily reports.

Suspicion was aroused when a gambler at one of the casino's baccarat tables identified a pinpoint red light coming from a card box. Police believe that the cameras were recording the cards as they were dealt so that a member of the criminal gang could then relay the information back to a gambler at the table.

One of the men detained admitted that he had received a request to plant a camera in 2009. It is understood that the two men were paid thousands of dollars each time they installed a camera.

Police are now reviewing CCTV footage to track down others involved in the scam and, according to the newspaper, the casino has subsequently removed several executive-level officials in the wake of the discovery.

Oft-tested routine for nuclear reactor VIPs

As the film about the APR-1400 reactors ends in the darkened room, automated shades draw back from floor-to-ceiling windows to reveal the immense concrete domes and construction cranes at the edge of the blue sea. Steam floats from a boiler undergoing tests, and workers in blue hard-hats confer at the base of the reactor buildings that seem as vast as a mall in Abu Dhabi.

The design of Shin-Kori 3 and 4, as the reactors are called, is to be nearly identical to the four a South Korean consortium is building in the UAE. Adjustments for the Gulf's climate, from larger pumps to more air-conditioning units, are undergoing review, along with the rest of the design, by the UAE regulator.

On a recent day at Kori, visitors representing some of the highest levels of the nuclear industry, from Japan to the Czech Republic, crowded towards the irresistible view.

South Korea has a well-rehearsed routine for international visitors to the world's newest nuclear exporter, from photo ops to special earphones for listening to engineers in the noisy interior of functioning plants nearby.

The first reactor is scheduled to come online next year, five years after the first spadefuls of earth were dug from this spot on Korea's south-east coast. The second reactor is due to follow in 2014. Another four are planned at the same site.

"The construction schedule is going well," said Lee Young-il, a vice president at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, the company hosting the visit.