Friday, August 18 2006 12:19 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: North Korea may be preparing for an underground test of a nuclear bomb, a media report today (Aug 18, 2006)said quoting two unidentified American officials.

"It is the view of the intelligence community that a test is a real possibility," it said quoting a senior US State Department official.

The official told ABC News that a U.S. Intelligence agency has recently observed "suspicious vehicle movement" at a suspected North Korean test site.

The activity included the unloading of large reels of cable outside P'unggye-yok, an underground facility in northeast North Korea.

Cables can be used in nuclear testing to connect an underground test site to outside observation equipment. The intelligence was brought to the attention of the White House last week, the network reported.

Even before this most recent intelligence, ABC said there has been growing concern within the U.S. Government that North Korea has been moving towards a nuclear test.

North Korea is believed to have enough nuclear material to build as many as a dozen nuclear bombs, but it has never tested one. A successful test would remove any doubt that North Korea is a nuclear power.

On July 4, North Korea conducted seven ballistic missile tests, which provoked international condemnation, including a unanimous United States Security Council resolution condemning its actions.

A nuclear test, however, would be seen as a much greater provocation than the missile tests, ABC said, noting that so far only seven other nations in the world have ever conducted nuclear tests.