
New satellite images have emerged purportedly showing how North Korea is preparing to detonate a nuclear bomb to coincide with its 'Day of the Sun' national day on Saturday.

Aerial photos taken yesterday show continued activity at the Punggye-ri Nuclear site where US officials fear a nuclear device has been installed in a tunnel ahead of another test.

It comes as the regime today warned foreign journalists to prepare for a 'big event' on Thursday and as tensions remained high after President Donald Trump sent a US Navy strike group steaming toward the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea's most important national day is on Saturday April 15 when North Korea commemorates the birth anniversary of its founding president Kim Il Sung. However, the big event may have been the grand unveiling of a sprawling housing project in Pyongyang.

Ahead of the event, Kim Jong-un yesterday oversaw a commando operation in which special forces dropped from light transport planes 'like hail' and 'mercilessly blew up enemy targets'.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today underscored fears about possible threats from North Korea, telling parliament in Tokyo that Pyongyang could have the capacity to deliver missiles equipped with sarin nerve gas.

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Satellite imagery of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site taken on April 12 appears to show vehicles parked around the North Portal of the site. North Korean monitoring service 38 North said the facility is 'primed and ready' for a sixth nuclear test

North 38, which monitors North Korea, has released a series of picures with one showing how tarp covers pallets of equipment or supplies to protect them from view while workers have been seen walking around the site in another sign of activity at the site

Analysts believe that the activity at the site is indicative of final preparations for another nuclear test. This satellite image, taken yesterday, shows 'small groups of people' working at the facility

The smiling North Korean leader is seen watching his 'elite fighting force' on a military training exercise in photos released today

Meanwhile, China said it would step up its protection of North Korea should the isolated state halt its nuclear programme.

Kim Jong-un today made a public appearance in Pyongyang, to open a prestige housing project featuring residential tower blocks of various shapes - round, square and octagonal - with the tallest proclaimed as 70 storeys, or 234 metres, high, and including nearly 5,000 apartments in total.

Around 200 foreign journalists are in Pyongyang as the country marks the 105th anniversary of 'Day of the Sun'.

Officials had given no details as to the nature of a planned 'big' event today or where it would take place, and similar announcements in the past have been linked to relatively low-key set pieces. In the end, it turned out to be the grand unveiling of a block of flats.

In 2016, for example, foreign journalists underwent hours of investigation by North Korean officials ahead of what turned out to be a pop concert to mark the finale of a ruling Workers' Party congress.

Yesterday Kim oversaw a commando operation in which special forces dropped from light transport planes 'like hail' and 'mercilessly blew up enemy targets'

Kim praised his troops for their precision in the training exercise (pictured), saying 'the bullets seemed to have their own eyes', state news agency KCNA said

The Rodong Sinmun - the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party - carried several photos from the contest showing firefight excercises

US military officials fear North Korea has placed a nuclear test in a tunnel with the potential to detonate it on Saturday. Pictured: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (left) flanked by vice-chairman of the State Affairs Commission Choe Yong-Hae at an opening ceremony for 'Rymoyong street', a new housing development in Pyongyang today

This picture taken on April 11 and released by North Korea's news agency on Wednesday shows a national meeting at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang. Foreign journalists were told to prepare for a 'big and important' event on Thursday

Washington-based 38 North , who monitors North Korea, has reported 'unusually high levels of activity' at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site (above) over the past four weeks

Tensions are high after Trump tweeted that he had 'a very good call' with Chinese leader Xi Jinping Tuesday night dealing with 'the menace of North Korea'

Trump revealed Wednesday morning that he had spoken with Xi on Tuesday night about the Pyongyang 'menace'

The US President wrote Tuesday on Twitter that Xi Jinping should pressure his neighbour and close ally into stopping its nuclear program

Washington-based 38 North, who monitors North Korea, has reported 'unusually high levels of activity' at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site over the past four weeks.

New satellite imagery from April 2 showed there was more activity around the North Portal, which is the tunnel where the four most recent nuclear tests have taken place.

Today it was revealed that Kim Jong-Un had overseen a special forces commando operation, watching from an observation post as special forces dropped from light transport planes 'like hail' and 'mercilessly blew up enemy targets'.

With a broad smile on his face, Kim praised his troops for their precision, saying 'the bullets seemed to have their own eyes', KCNA said, without identifying when the operation was held.

The Rodong Sinmun - the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party - carried several photos from the contest including one of Kim watching the troops parachuting down from jets into an open field. Another showed him grinning from ear-to-ear as he walked by cheering soldiers.

Around 200 foreign journalists are in Pyongyang as the country marks the 105th anniversary of 'Day of the Sun'. Kim Jong-Un is pictured today

US President Donald Trump tweeted that he had 'great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea'

KIM UNVEILS 750FT TOWER BLOCK OF FLATS... WITH NO HOT WATER With tens of thousands of adoring citizens looking on -along with invited international media - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on Thursday opened a prestige housing project as he sought to burnish his country's image in the midst of mounting tensions over its nuclear ambitions. The Ryomyong Street development is a collection of residential tower blocks of various shapes - round, square and octagonal - with the tallest proclaimed as 70 storeys, or 770f high, and including nearly 5,000 apartments in total. But the most prestigious flat, a penthouse at the top of the tallest tower has no hot water, reporters found at the opening. The complex stands just down a wide avenue from the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the bodies of Kim's father and grandfather - the North's founding father Kim Il-Sung - lie in state, and its completion was repeatedly promised in time for Saturday's 105th anniversary of Kim Il-Sung's birth. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on Thursday opened a prestige housing project as he sought to burnish his country's image in the midst of mounting tensions over its nuclear ambitions North Korean leader Kim Jong Un cuts the ribbon during an opening ceremony of a newly constructed residential complex in Ryomyong street in Pyongyang Tens of thousands of soldiers, officials and citizens packed a plaza from early morning, waiting in the cold Pyongyang spring air for hours before Kim made his entrance, leading a delegation of senior officials and generals onto the dais. Addressing the throng, Prime Minister Pak Pong-Ju lauded Kim, the third of his family to rule the country. 'I would like to express the greatest thanks in the name of the people and the army to great leader comrade Kim Jong-Un, who wisely led this construction to victory,' he said. The project was a demonstration of 'the 'do or die' spirit of our people and army who are willing to implement the Party's orders in all cases,' he said, and 'a victory against imperialists' sanctions.' The North is under multiple sets of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and tensions have soared in recent weeks over its capabilities. Tens of thousands of adoring citizens watched on along with invited international media There is speculation it might conduct a sixth nuclear test to coincide with the Kim Il-Sung anniversary. US President Donald Trump has dispatched an aircraft carrier group to the Korean peninsula in a show of force. Such tensions were entirely absent as Kim took a pair of scissors proffered from a tray and cut a wide red ribbon to rhythmic cheers from the crowd. He waved to his admirers before turning and walking back to his Mercedes limousine. North Korean authorities seek to present their isolated, impoverished country as prosperous and modern, and the project is the third of its kind in as many years in Pyongyang, but by far the largest at nearly 5,000 flats in total. The showpiece penthouse apartments at the top of the tallest tower offer impressive views over the capital and the surrounding countryside, and are furnished with ice green wallpaper and purple sofas - but had no hot water. Advertisement

'The contest proved once again that our Korean People's Army... will show a real taste of gun shot and real taste of war to the reckless invaders,' KCNA said.

It came as Japan warned North Korea may have the capacity to deliver missiles equipped with sarin nerve gas.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said: 'There is a possibility that North Korea already has a capability to deliver missiles with sarin as warheads.'

South Korea said today it believed it would be consulted by the United States before any possible pre-emptive U.S. strike against Pyongyang.

China urged the North to halt its nuclear programme in exchange for greater protection from Beijing.

An influential state-backed Chinese newspaper said the best option for North Korea and its leader Kim Jong Un was to give up its nuclear ambitions.

'As soon as North Korea complies with China's declared advice and suspends nuclear activities ... China will actively work to protect the security of a denuclearised North Korean nation and regime,' said an editorial in the Global Times, which is published by the Communist party's People's Daily.

Yesterday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a peaceful resolution to the North Korean problem in a telephone conversation with President Trump on Wednesday.

TENSE STAND-OFF: The U.S. dispatched a naval strike group to the area amid continued missile launches and hot rhetoric from North Korea

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, the guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer and the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain are pictured in March this year. North Korea has warned it is 'ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S.'

Trump warned Tuesday that 'North Korea is looking for trouble', insisting that if China 'does not decide to help,' the US 'will solve the problem without them'

Trump tweeted that he had 'a very good call' with Chinese leader Xi Jinping Tuesday night dealing with 'the menace of North Korea.'

He promised Xi on Tuesday that they would get 'far better' trade terms with the U.S. if they managed to de-fang the hostile North Korean regime.

But in the same digital breath – on Twitter – he pledged to handle Pyongyang with or without Beijing's help.

'I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!' Trump tweeted Tuesday.

And today, he tweeted that he had 'great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea.'

IS KIM PLANNING A TOXIC GAS ATTACK? North Korea may already be capable of launching chemical weapons, Japan has warned. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he feared Kim Jong-un 'has a capability' to fire missiles tipped with sarin - the same deadly gas used to kill 87 Syrian civilians in a horrifying gas attack last week. That atrocity prompted the US to launch a surprise wave of missiles on one of dictator Bashar al-Assad's airbases. Abe told a parliamentary session: 'There is a possibility that North Korea already has a capability to deliver missiles with sarin as warheads.' Members of a Japanese doomsday cult killed 12 people and made thousands ill in 1995 in simultaneous attacks with sarin nerve gas on five Tokyo rush-hour subway trains. Advertisement

The president is increasingly concerned with the threat of a nuclear program being developed by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

'North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.' Trump continued Tuesday.

Pyongyang rattled a saber in Washington's direction on Monday, saying it would mount a defense against 'reckless acts of aggression' after the Trump administration sent an aircraft carrier strike group toward the Korean peninsula.

The strike group consists of the USS Carl Vinson, a missile carrier and two destroyers.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency said the North Korean foreign ministry criticized Trump's 'reckless acts of aggression' and said American aggression has 'reached a serious phase.'

Pyongyang 'is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S.,' the ministry insisted.

In April, 2012, North Korea attempted to launch a long-range rocket ahead of the 100th Day of the Sun. State media later confirmed the launch had failed.

On Wednesday, North Korean officials told foreign journalists in Pyongyang invited to mark the national holiday that their schedule had been canceled, and to instead meet early on Thursday to prepare for a 'big and important event'.

Visits by foreign journalists to North Korea are rare and tightly coordinated, and security checks at events attended by leader Kim Jong Un are especially rigorous.

North Korea often uses such visits to showcase new construction projects. In recent weeks workers have been putting the finishing touches to the skyscraper-lined 'Ryomyong' street in central Pyongyang.

Kim has made frequent visits to the street to inspect construction work there, according to state media. North Korea has in the past marked its April 15 holiday with tightly choreographed military parades.