A United Nations panel examining sanctions on North Korea says that the country is preparing for its seventh nuclear test.

The UN Security Council experts released an interim report Friday covering January through the end of July.

A pile of lumber, for possible use in the construction of a tunnel structure and nuclear triggering device tests were confirmed at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the country's northeast. The report says that work paves the way for additional nuclear tests.

It also says the country has achieved technical gains through repeated ballistic missile launches.

The report says North Korea was able to bypass sanctions and obtain funds through cyberattacks. It points out that the country has stolen crypto assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the past six months or so.

The report also says North Korea has increasingly been misusing a technology called non-fungible tokens. So-called NFTs are used to prove that digitalized works sold online are authentic.

The report also touched on the humanitarian situation in North Korea which has worsened because of the coronavirus pandemic. It says UN sanctions have affected the humanitarian situation, but the full impact is uncertain.