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| A U.S. U-2 reconnaissance aircraft flies over the western border city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. / Yonhap |
By Kim Hyo-jin
The United States and Japan appear to have known in advance about North Korea's nuclear test conducted on Wednesday, according to a U.S. media report.
The report, published by the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), came amid criticism of South Korean intelligence authorities for failing to obtain the information beforehand.
If the report turns out to be true, the South Korean government is expected to come under fire for failing to coordinate with its allies regarding the North's nuclear development.
NBC News on Thursday summarized comments given by an unidentified senior U.S. military official as, "that the U.S. was aware of the North's test preparations two weeks ago and launched drones to take a baseline air sample near the test site."
The report continued, "The air was sampled again on Wednesday to test for traces of tritium that could indicate whether North Korea has detonated something more than a standard-sized nuclear weapon."
Washington expressed skepticism about the North's claim that the tested device was in fact an H-bomb.
"The initial analysis…is not consistent with the claim that the regime has made a successful hydrogen bomb test," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest at a press briefing on Thursday.
In the face of mounting criticism, Seoul's Ministry of National Defense dismissed the report as "speculation."
"A drone can't possibly enter the air over North Korea," a defense ministry official said. "Even if it went over through the East Sea, it must have been a drone for reconnaissance, not one for collecting air samples."
Meanwhile, questions are being raised whether Tokyo had also noticed the North's move prior to the test.
When asked if the Japanese government had noticed signs of the test beforehand, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga answered, "I'd like to say we are always in close coordination with the U.S."
Suga underlined "Japan-U.S. coordination" again, in response to the question whether Japan shared information with the U.S. prior to the test.
Earlier, Tokyo-based Kyodo News Agency reported that a U.S. spy plane flew out of Japan's Okinawa Island just before the seismic activity caused by the test detonation was detected in North Korea.
It said the RC-135V reconnaissance plane took off from the Kadena Air Base at 10:20 a.m on Wednesday, 10 minutes before the test, fuelling speculation that the plane was trying to gather information on the test.
In December 2014, South Korea signed a military pact with the U.S. and Japan to share classified military intelligence about North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programs.
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