The trip will take place amid concerns that North Korea is also preparing to conduct its first nuclear test in years. According to CNN, the United States now believes that a North Korean missile launch on May 4 was a failed ICBM that exploded shortly after launch. The U.S. government, meanwhile, has unveiled an assessment that North Korea could be ready as early as this month to conduct a nuclear test at its Punggye-ri site. North Korea had frozen construction of the Yongbyon No. "Connecting the secondary cooling loop strongly indicates that North Korea now intends to complete construction of the reactor," the analysis said, but added, "It is unclear how soon North Korea could do so."

Source: CNN May 18, 2022 14:28 UTC