World leaders urged North Korea to end what has been described as its belligerent and paranoid rhetoric after it threatened to reduce its enemies to a 'sea of flames.' Deborah Gembara reports.
- North Korean mobile missile launchers have been spotted moving between hiding spots
- Pyongyang has begun several days of celebrations marking North Korea's founder, Kim Il-sung
- President Obama has warned he will take 'all necessary steps' to defend his people
CONFLICTING statements are emerging from United States officials about their assessment of North Korea's ability to fire nuclear-tipped missiles.
A Republican Congressman read out a segment of a secret intelligence agency report during a public hearing. The apparent conclusion that North Korea does have the technology to build miniaturised nuclear warheads has since been repeatedly denied by senior government officials.
President Obama earlier issued his sternest warning to North Korea yet, saying he will take ''all necessary steps'' to protect his people.
North Korea seemed to edge even closer to nuclear war, with one China expert saying there is an 80 per cent chance of missiles being fired.
However reporters in South Korea say it is "business as usual" with the locals there talking more about pop sensation Psy's follow-up song to the smash hit Gangnam Style. South Korean officials believe any missile launch will come on Monday to celebrate the birthday of the country's late founder, Kim Il Sung.
Live coverage has ended for the day. Look back at how events unfolded below.
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As North Korea ramps up talk of a nuclear attack, here's a quick look at how the US, Japan and South Korea can counter a missile launch.
5:10pm (AEST): NATO Secretary-General AndersFogh Rasmussen now addressing media in Seoul.
5.04pm (AEST): A top US official travelling with John Kerry in Seoul said China had a key role to play in the current crisis on the Korean peninsula which has been caught in a cycle of escalating tensions since North Korea's nuclear test in February.
"China has a huge stake in stability, and the continued North Korean pursuit of a nuclear-armed missile capability is the enemy of stability,'' the official said.
Kerry is due to be briefed first-hand on the tensions from top US military commanders on the ground in South Korea, ahead of meetings with new South Korean President Park Geun-Hye and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se.
4:41pm (AEST): Voice of America tweeted that US official in Seoul stating there were no indications of troop movements to back up North korea's rhetoric of war.
4:36pm (AEST): US Secretary of State John Kerry in South Korea for talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, with North Korea's threats of war and nuclear attacks expected to top talks, officials said, Yonhap News agency reports.
A photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 12 shows an overview of the national meeting to celebrate the first anniversaries of Kim Jong-Un's election to the top posts of the Workers' Party of North Korea in Pyongyang.
Kerry is expected to deliver a message to North Korea while asking China to do more in reining in the North, Seoul officials said, as Pyongyang has moved missiles into firing position. The visit to Seoul is the first leg of Kerry's three-nation Asian tour that will also includes China and Japan.
3:39pm (AEST): Voice of America has tweeted that US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrive in Seoul, South Korea on his first trip to Asia as America's top diplomat.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, shakes hands with unidentified South Korean Air Force soldiers upon his arrival at Seoul military airport in Seongnam, South Korea, on the first leg of his three-nation Asian tour. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) Source: AP
South Korean protesters shout slogans during a rally denouncing the joint military exercises between South Korea and US and demanding U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry go to North Korea for peace talks, near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) Source: AP
12.33pm (AEST): Voice of America has tweeted that the South Korean Unification Ministry says it has taken "one step forward" towards opening a new dialog with North Korea.
12.22pm (AEST): The United States Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has reaffirmed assurances that North Korea does not have the ability to arm missiles with nuclear warheads.
President Barack Obama has said he will take "all necessary steps" to protect the United States, its interests and its people.
The Defence Intelligence Agency report read out in public by a Republican Congressman was "not an intelligence community assessment," he said.
North Korea has not "yet demonstrated the full range of capabilities necessary for a nuclear armed missile," he said.
12.15pm (AEST): "I worry as much about North Korea unleashing a full-scale war as I do about an asteroid hitting my house,'' said Daniel Pinkston, a Seoul-based analyst for the International Crisis Group.
"We expect these missiles will fall in the ocean and give the intel people a chance to study their weapons systems.''
Xu Guangyu, a senior military analyst in Beijing, said there was no threat from the missiles expected to be launched in coming days. "The grandson is using the missiles to salute his grandfather and celebrate his power,'' Xu said.
The statements come as a variety of sources highlight reports that North Korea's army shows little sign of mobilisation beyond the missile tests.
This photo and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) early April 12 shows young residents taking part in a dancing party to mark the first anniversary of Kim Jong-Un's election as first secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang.
"Soldiers are working in the fields, planting trees, or just hanging around,'' said Kees Wielinga, a Dutch businessman who had returned through Beijing. "There were no civil defense preparations, no mobilisation at all.''
11.42am (AEST): A South Korean Ministry of Defence spokesman has told reporters that South Korea does not believe North Korea has miniaturised nuclear warheads available for its missiles.
"Our military's assessment is that the North has not yet miniaturised," ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told a news briefing.
"North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests but there is doubt whether it is at the stage where they can reduce the weight and miniaturise to mount on a missile."
10.56am (AEST): South Korean news agency Yonhap is quoting military sources on the border with North Korea as saying it is just a "short period of time" before a launch is conducted.
The report states the sources believe the missiles will follow a trajectory that will not take them close to South Korea, Japan, or US military bases in the region.
US President Barack Obama shakes hands with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House.
10.46am (AEST): US officials have again urged China to use its leverage to stop North Korea's "destabilising'' actions.
"China has a huge stake in stability, and the continued North Korean pursuit of a nuclear armed missile capability is the enemy of stability,'' a senior US administration official told reporters travelling on board Secretary of State John Kerry's plane to Seoul.
"That gives us and the Chinese a very powerful objective in common in denuclearisation,'' he said, adding the US wanted Beijing to evoke "a new sense of urgency'' in its conversations with Pyongyang about its nuclear program.
CAN IT OR CAN'T IT - A LOOK AT NORTH KOREA'S MISSILE POWER
10.11am (AEST): The US Department of Defense has issued a formal statement on North Korea's nuclear capability. It reads:
"In today's House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Department of Defense budget, a member of the committee read an unclassified passage in a classified report on North Koreas nuclear capabilities. While I cannot speak to all the details of a report that is classified in its entirety, it would be inaccurate to suggest that the North Korean regime has fully tested, developed, or demonstrated the kinds of nuclear capabilities referenced in the passage. The United States continues to closely monitor the North Korean nuclear program and calls upon North Korea to honor its international obligations"
North Koreans in suits and brightly colored traditional dresses danced in public squares to mark the anniversary of leader Kim Jong-un's first year in power. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).
Statement by Press Secretary George Little
9.33am (AEST): A White House official has told media that the DIA assessment that North Korea can launch nuclear weapon on ballistic missile was "mistakenly" declassified.
9.29am (AEST): A Pentagon spokesman has said it is "inaccurate" to say North Korea has nuclear missile capability.
The assertion comes after a Republican Congressman read aloud a portion of a classified intelligence agency report which appeared to conclude North Korea now has the technology to do so.
8.58am (AEST): The Wall Street Journal reports a senior White House official as saying there is "no evidence they've been able to marry nuclear technology with missile capabilities".
The assertion comes after a Congressman read aloud a part of a confidential intelligence agency report.
A US Army soldier mans a vehicle during annual military drills in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea.
"DIA assesses with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles,'' said the report, according to Representative Doug Lamborn, who read from what he said was an unclassified portion of the assessment.
"However, the reliability will be low.''
8.44am (AEST): United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged North Korea's Kim Jong-un to focus less on threats and more on his own people's standard of living.
"I would strongly ask him to, first of all, refrain from taking any such provocative measures, which is clearly in violation against the Security Council resolution and against the expectation of the international community," Ban said on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.
"I would strongly urge him to do more to enhance the living standard of his own people, when they are suffering from this economic difficulty."
8.28am (AEST): United States Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to South Korea today, to China tomorrow and Japan on Sunday to address mounting tensions with North Korea.
A traffic policewoman, center, stands in the center of a junction near a sign, which reads "Defend to the death", as vans passing by in Pyongyang, North Korea.
US officials say he will ask China to "use its full influence" to reign-in North Korea's belligerence.
Voice of America reports Kerry also will discuss agreements for a "proportional response" by the United States and South Korea to any North Korean aggression.
8.04am (AEST): Reports that the Defence Intelligence Agency believed that North Korea has the technology to place nuclear warheads on its missile have been confirmed by a senior congressional aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the Pentagon had not officially released the contents.
AP reports the aide as saying the report was produced in March.
"DIA assesses with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles. However, the reliability will be low," the report said.
Absent from that unclassified segment of the report was any reference to what the DIA believes is the range of the missiles North Korea could arm with a nuclear warhead.
Much of its missile arsenal is capable of reaching South Korea and Japan, but Kim has threatened to attack the United States as well. In December last year, North Korea tested a prototype missile that has the necessary range to reach much of the United States, and Australia.
NORTH KOREA'S FURY AT US WAR GAMES.
7:15am (AEST): United States Defence Intelligence Agency now believe North Korea has the technology to build a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on their missiles.
The new assessment is the first time the United States has admitted, with "moderate confidence", that North Korea has the capability.
The New York Times report says that the classified document - distributed to members of Congress and senior officials - notes that the weapon's "reliability will be low."
6am (AEST): President Barak Obama has told North Korea to "end belligerence" and says he will protect the United States and its interests with "all necessary steps".
But Obama also says that no one wants to see a conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
"Now's the time for North Korea to end the kind of belligerent approach that they've been taking and to try to lower temperatures. Nobody wants to see a conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
"We will continue to work to try to resolve some of those issues diplomatically even, as I indicated to the Secretary-general, that the United States will take all necessary steps to protect its people and to meet our obligations under our alliances in the region,'' Obama said.
North Korea ratcheted up its threats against the US after the UN Security Council levied new economic sanctions on the isolated nation. The penalties were in response to a February rocket launch.
Obama spoke alongside UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (bahn kee-moon) after the two met in the Oval Office.
5:15am (AEST): North Korea is poised to launch as many as five missiles from its east coast, South Korean intelligence officials said.
A South Korean army tank moves at a shooting range in the border city of Paju.
"There are signs the North could fire off Musudan missiles any time soon," an unidentified intelligence source in Seoul told the state-run Yonhap news agency.
Others think the military exercise is just part of the festivities planned for a national holiday on Monday marking the birthday of the country's late founder, Kim Il Sung.
"There is no threat, said Xu Guangyu, a senior military analyst in Beijing. The grandson is using the missiles to salute his grandfather and celebrate his power.
4:20am (AEST): China appears "frustrated" with volatile rhetoric from its North Korean allies but is eager to see the regime stay in power as a "buffer state" on its border, US spy chief James Clapper said Thursday.
The national intelligence director told lawmakers North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-Un, who has threatened nuclear war with the United States, was testing China's patience.
"China is under new leadership and the indication we have is that China is rather frustrated with the behaviour and belligerent rhetoric of Kim Jong-Un," Mr Clapper told the House Intelligence Committee.
Some 200 South Korean conservative activists demonstrate with placards denouncing North korea for heightening tension on the Korean peninsula during a rally in Seoul.
PROPAGANDA TURNS HUMOUR WHEN LOST IN TRANSLATION.
3:30am (AEST): The Washington Post says that Google searches for North Korea in the US are seven times higher than the last peak, which was during the country's 2006 nuclear test. More Americans are Googling North Korea than Beyonce or Barack Obama, two of the most consistently popular searches.
Pew estimates that 36 per cent of Americans are following the news very closely, which is unusual for an international news story. About 56 per cent said the US should take the threats very seriously.
However, despite Americans reading more about North Korea, Pew found 47 per cent believe the country has a nuclear missile that could hit the US (which it does not).
3:13am (AEST): UK foreign secretary William Hague says the G8 (US, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia) would not be intimidated by North Korea.
"If there is a missile test, we will advocate further measures to the UN security council," he said.
North Korean soldiers chat as they stand guard on the river bank of the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite to the Chinese border city of Dandong.
2:48am (AEST): CNN's Australian reporter Anna Coren says it is "business as usual" in South Korea as it faces the prospect of war with North Korea.
Coren said South Koreans seem more interested in the imminent release of pop artist Psy's new song Gentleman than they are about the prospect of war.
1.54am (AEST): One of China's leading experts on North Korea has warned there is an 80 per cent chance of war breaking out on the Korean Peninsula.
"There is a 70 to 80 per cent chance that a war will happen because North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may want to use this opportunity to force a reunification of the Korean Peninsula," Zhang Liangui, a professor of international strategic research at the Communist Party's Central Party School, told the South China Morning Post.
Professor Zhang said China needed to do more to get nuclear weapons out of North Korean hands.
"The longer we delay fixing it, the more difficult the situation will become," he said. "China needs to seriously consider how to tackle the problem."
A United States Air Force F22 "Raptor" fighter manoeuvres. A detachment of the advanced stealth fighter aircraft has been deployed to South Korea.
THE TWO FACES OF KIM JONG-UN.
1.11am (AEST): Top US intelligence officials say North Korea's new leader is trying to show the world and his people that he is in charge, rather than trying to trigger military conflict.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told Congress that his analysts believe North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is using rhetoric to gain recognition, and to manoeuvre the international community into concessions in future negotiations.
CIA director John Brennan says judging his actions is made tougher because he hasn't been in power long.
Mr Clapper says the intelligence community believes the North would only use nuclear weapons to preserve the Kim regime, but says they do not know how the Kim regime defines that.
Both men say China is best able to influence North Korea to tone down its rhetoric.
12.50am (AEST): Former US Vice President Dick Cheney has given his fellow Republicans a dire warning on the ongoing crisis in North Korea.
Were in deep doo doo, Mr Cheney told Republican lawmakers, according to a leadership aide who spoke to CNN.
12.22am (AEST): Bloomberg News provides some analysis of North Korea's propaganda machine which has described Hillary Clinton as "funny lady" who is by no means intelligent and describes the continental US as being similar to a boiled pumpkin.
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