Washington  - North Korea may be preparing for another missile test, the CNN news channel reported late Tuesday, citing an unnamed senior US official.

Photographs taken by a US spy satellite showed activity at a site used previously for testing Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missiles, the Pentagon official was quoted as saying.

While there was so far no evidence of a missile being transported to the site by the communist country, the preparations were similar to those preceding a test in 2006.

Seoul - North Korea is preparing to test-fire an intercontinental missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, South Korean media reports said Tuesday.

Intelligence agencies in South Korea and the United States observed a train carrying a large cylindrical object that was believed to be a Taepodong-2 missile, the South Korea news agency Yonhap reported, citing an intelligence source.

The launch was expected in one or two months, Yonhap quoted the source as saying.

Washington, Jan 31 : North Korea is trying to cover up an ongoing policy struggle inside the secretive state's leadership and to divert attention it announced on Friday that it is scrapping all political and security arrangements with South Korea, according to an expert on this matter.

Seoul  - North Korea Friday declared all political an military accords with South Korea void, saying Seoul was pushing relations "to the brink of war."

Pyongyang's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification accused the conservative government of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak of raising tensions on the Korean peninsula.

There was no further way to improve relations, the committee was quoted as saying by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday the six-nation talks for ending North Korea's nuclear activities are "essential" to the diplomatic process.

"With respect to North Korea, I think the six-party talks are essential," Clinton told reporters.

The State Department has begun a review of the diplomatic approach to North Korea under the Bush administration, which established the six-nation negotiations as the centrepiece of dealing with Pyongyang.

Seoul - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il attended a lunar New Year's concert in the capital Pyongyang, state-controlled media reported Tuesday as speculations persist about his health.

Kim was accompanied by senior officials of the ruling Workers Party and top military officials, the KCNA news agency said.

The report didn't specify when and where the performance took place. The lunar New Year fell on Monday.

The audience cheered when Kim appeared in the auditorium and the leader expressed satisfaction over the performance given by the state merited chorus, KCNA said.