38North footage shows that North Korea is in a tactical rest. (Photo : Twitter)
U.S. intelligence released reports that Beijing prepared more bombers and heightened alert as North Korea announced that they will be conducting more nuclear tests on April 22.
No tests happened and China lowered the alert level right after.
China has put pressure on North Korea to cease testing since President Xi Jinping's meeting with President Donald Trump in Florida this month.
A senior U.S. official said that the intentions of North Korea are hard to interpret at the moment.
A report released by the Johns Hopkins University monitoring project, 38 North, indicated that North Korea is in standby mode for the time being. Footage of army personnel playing volleyball was seen.
The report stated, "Regardless, the Punggye-Ri nuclear test site appears able to conduct a sixth nuclear test at any time once the order is received from Pyongyang."
It added that possible explanations for the most recent developments are that the site and associated preparations for a sixth nuclear test have transitioned to a "standby" status, with personnel being allowed some downtime for recreation.
The site of the nuclear testing, Punggye-ri, is located in a mountainous region in the northeast. This is the same site were previous five successful nuclear tests were held.
The tests were conducted in 2006, 2009, 2013 and in January and Sept. 2016.
Intelligence specialists Joseph S. Bermudez Jr, Jack Liu and Frank Pabian said that the pause in military activity from North Korea is tactical and strategic.
"Pyongyang has initiated a tactical pause in activity at the test site as part of an overall deception plan, delaying the sixth nuclear test until a time when a detonation would achieve the greatest political advantage," the report stated.
North Korea's submarine base in the east coast tried to launch a KN-17 or a scud missile. The launch failed.
