  We have performed a long-slit K band spectroscopic observation of the
luminous infrared galaxy NGC 6240. The peak position of the H_2 v=1-0 S(1)
emission in the slit is located ~0.3" - 0.4" north of the southern nucleus. It
is almost the midpoint between the southern nucleus and the peak position of
the ^12CO J=1-0 emission. Based on the line-ratio analyses, we suggest the
excitation mechanism of H_2 is pure thermal at most positions. In the southern
region we find the following three velocity components in the H_2 emission: the
blueshifted shell component (~-250 km s^-1 with respect to V_sys) which is
recognized as a distinct C-shape distortion in the velocity field around the
southern nucleus, the high-velocity blueshifted ``wing'' component (~-1000 km
s^-1 with respect to V_sys), and the component indicating possible line
splitting of ~500 km s^-1. The latter two components are extended to the south
from the southern nucleus. We show that the kinematic properties of these three
components can be reproduced by expanding motion of a shell-like structure
around the southern nucleus. The offset peak position of the H_2 emission can
be understood if we assume that the shell expanding to the north interacts with
the extragalactic molecular gas. At the interface between the shell and the
molecular gas concentration the cloud-crushing mechanism proposed by Cowie et
al. (1981) may work efficiently, and the intense H_2 emission is thus expected
there. All these findings lead us to propose a model that the most H_2 emission
is attributed to the shock excitation driven by the superwind activity of the
southern nucleus.
