Christopher Hill, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, answers reporters’ questions on his arrival at Incheon International Airport on Saturday. Hill is at the start of a trip that will take in Korea, China, and Japan for talks on the North Korean nuclear dispute. N. Korea Could Boost Nuclear Capability: U.S. Expert Korea, U.S. Agree to Get Tougher on North NYT Smells N.Korea Quarantine Plan North Korea: a Yawning Gap in Perceptions China Raps Security Council Threat to N.Korea U.S. Warns IAEA of N.Korean Nuke Test

The online edition of the Wall Street Journal on Saturday said the U.S. government told China signs were that North Koreas was preparing for a nuclear test. The paper added Washington asked Beijing to persuade North Korea to abandon the plan. The official said U.S. spy satellites detected increased activities at North Korean sites where officers suspect underground nuclear tests could be carried out.

The daily added the U.S. conveyed its concerns to South Korea and Japan as well.

“U.S. officials are increasingly concerned that North Korea may be preparing its first test of a nuclear weapon,” the Washington Post also said Saturday. “A top U.S. diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill, flew to the region yesterday to consult over the weekend with officials in Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul about the signs that a test may be in the works.”

But both papers said U.S. officials were unsure about the intelligence, adding there was debate within the U.S. government over whether the North Koreans would actually conduct a test.

A U.S. State Department official said there was nothing new to evaluate in long-standing U.S. concerns about North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Asked if this was a denial or confirmation of rumors that North Korea was preparing for a nuclear test, he said it was the State Department’s policy not to issue statements on intelligence matters. Hill, who arrived in Korea on Saturday, also refused to confirm the information in the Wall Street Journal and made no further comment on the issue.

South Korean government official meanwhile said reports that Hill came to discuss the signs of an imminent nuclear test were inaccurate.

(Gang In-sun, insun@chosun.com )