Some North Korean companies and government-linked business bodies have devised preemptive measures to avoid possible Chinese financial sanctions to be imposed when the North carries out its threatened nuclear test, sources said Thursday.

   "There have been signs that North Korean trade firms and government agencies are withdrawing money from their Chinese bank accounts or changed their names to open new accounts," said one source in Beijing with knowledge on the matter.

   The moves started after Beijing joined the U.N. Security Council's Resolution 2087 condemning the North's Dec. 12 long-range rocket launch, the same source said.

   Such North Korean moves are seen as "preemptive" measures against possible financial sanctions by the Chinese government in the event of Pyongyang's third nuclear test, another source said.

   North Korea has vowed to conduct a nuclear test in response to the U.N. resolution, and there have been a series of signs that point to an imminent detonation. The North previously detonated atomic devices in 2006 and 2009.

(Yonhap News)