Pyongyang is unlikely to carry out a nuclear test or missile launch over the next few months.<br />Citing satellite imagery,... the U.S. website 38 North says there are only signs of regular maintenance at North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site and... the Sohae ... Satellite Launching Station.<br />But the site also notes that... if it wanted to... the North Korean leadership could move forward quickly... with either a bomb test or missile launch.<br />This analysis comes amid speculation that the North might carry out a provocation in response to the ongoing annual joint military drills between South Korea and the United States.<br />No matter how many times Seoul and Washington reiterate the exercises are purely defensive in nature, Pyongyang perceives the drills as a rehearsal for war.
