Yonhap quoted the source as saying, “North Korea has completed technical preparations for a nuclear test," and, "If Kim Jong Un makes a political decision, the North can conduct a nuclear test in a few days."

Pyongyang carried out tests in 2006 and 2009 that met with U.N. sanctions and diplomatic upset.

The continued aggression by North Korea, which was accused in 2010 of torpedoing a South Korean naval ship and killing 46 sailors, creates a difficult situation not only for Western nations but also for its primary benefactors in Beijing.

While China clearly sees value in North Korea as a buffer to South Korea and the U.S. troop presence it hosts – and has shown no sign of discontinuing support that helps avoid the dysfunction of North Korea spilling over the Chinese border – there’s a sense that Beijing is tired of the headaches brought by Pyongyang.

After China voted Tuesday to back the United Nations measure against North Korea, state-controlled media in Beijing reported that while Chinese officials had worked to keep the United Nations from meting out too severe a punishment and wanted the situation resolved through the multi-nation negotiations known as the six-party talks, it also wanted a message sent to Pyongyang.

“By passing the resolution, China was warning North Korea against its intention to abduct China diplomatically,” Wang Junsheng, an expert in Korean issues at the state Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times in Beijing. “And by blocking more sanctions, China was telling North Korea to return to the right track, the six-party talks."

Jonathan S. Landay and Matthew Schofield contributed to this report from Washington.

Newslook via MCT