Update – 04:09 EST: South Korean official Ryoo Kihl-jae says he misspoke when he said that there was  an “indication” that North Korea is preparing for a nuclear test.

WASHINGTON D.C. – South Korea’s unification minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said today that there are signs that North Korea could be preparing for a fourth nuclear test.

Ryoo’s comments came after a JoongAng Ilbo report that suggested there had been an increase in the movements of vehicles and personnel near the Punggye-ri test complex in North Hamgyong Province.

Prior to North Korea’s last test in February 2013, satellite analysis showed significant vehicle and personnel movements in the area. The Punggye-ri testing complex was used for North Korea’s first, second and third nuclear tests.

Given current tensions on the peninsula, a fourth nuclear test would be viewed as a further escalation by both Seoul and Washington, DC.

Today United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged North Korea not to carry out an additional nuclear test, saying it would be a “provocative” act given current peninsula tensions.

But given recent increases in North Korean rhetoric, there is a chance that North Korea could be bluffing.

“We are closely monitoring the ongoing situation, which is very similar to the situation ahead of the third nuclear test. We are trying to figure out whether it is a genuine preparation for a nuclear test or just a ploy to heap more pressure on us and the U.S.,” an unnamed intelligence source told South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo today.

Satellite analysis of North Korea’s third nuclear test showed that of two underground tunnels built to facilitate the test, only one had so far been used. The unused tunnel could accordingly be used to accelerate the timing of any fourth test.

Despite the development, governments in Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington have noticeably scaled down strong rhetoric this Monday as weeks of exponentially escalating tensions appear to be coming to an end.

Following North Korea’s third nuclear test, the UN Security Council applied Resolution 2094, which imposed limited new financial sanctions and interdiction capabilities. North Korea responded furiously and has since demanded the roll back of this and other sanctions.

North Korea announced last week that it would restart weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium facilities located at its Yongbyon reactor. The announcement was the latest escalation in a long line of North Korean threats, ranging from preemptive nuclear strikes to missile attacks on U.S. military bases in the Pacific.