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South Korea has stepped up monitoring of North Korea's nuclear activity following reports of the secretive state's alleged preparations for the underground test of an atomic bomb, defense sources here said Sunday.

South Korea does not rule out the possibility that the North will conduct a nuclear test within this year to either draw international attention or strengthen its self-defense measures, they added.

"The Defense Ministry is on a 24-hour vigil to deal with North Korea's potential nuclear test," an informed source said. "The ministry has already dispatched six skilled soldiers to the Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources, a state-run organization to monitor seismic tremors on the Korean Peninsula."

South Korea, with the help of the United States, has been monitoring the North's nuclear program since the 1980s, but it is quite rare for Seoul to maintain such vigilance around the clock in cooperation with a government research center, the source added.

But the government denied any connection between the heightened surveillance and the recent report on Pyongyang's possible nuclear test.

"The government has been pushing to strengthen the monitoring of North Korea's nuclear activity since early July, and related measures are under way," a government official said.

Late last week, U.S.-based ABC News quoted ranking U.S. officials as saying Washington detected new evidence of the North's possible preparations for a nuclear test.

The South Korean and U.S. governments refused to confirm the intelligence-related reports.

North Korea defied international warnings and test-fired a series of missiles on July 5 (Seoul time), which prompted the United Nations Security Council to adopt a punitive resolution against Pyongyang.

North Korea immediately responded with a threat to take stronger actions.

"We have already clarified that we will have no option but to take stronger physical actions should someone take issue with our army's missile launch training for self-defense and put pressure on it," a statement by North Korea's Foreign Ministry read.

If North Korea's traditional brinkmanship is any guide, the unpredictable state may take another provocative step, as it has few cards to play, analysts in Seoul say.

U.S. President George W. Bush said Saturday that, "If North Korea were to conduct a test, it's just a constant reminder for people in the neighborhood in particular that North Korea poses a threat and we expect our friend, those sitting around the table with us, to act in such a manner as to help rid the world of the threat."

He was referring to six-way talks on the North's nuclear program that also involve South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia, and Japan.

The Beijing-based negotiations were last held nine months ago, and Pyongyang is now boycotting the talks to protest Washington's crackdown on the communist nation's alleged financial crimes including the counterfeiting of U.S. dollars.

Seoul, Aug. 20 (Yonhap New)