Now he’s threatening Japan.
North Korea and its erratic leader, Kim Jong Un, yesterday vowed the strongest US ally in Asia would be “consumed in nuclear flames” if the weeks-old war of nerves turns into a real war.
The threat, carried through the North’s mouthpiece news agency, came as Secretary of State John Kerry warned that Kim would be making a “huge mistake” if he even test-fires a medium-range rocket.
Kerry, who visits China today and Japan tomorrow for crisis talks, said Beijing should grab hold of North Korea before its long-standing ally goes too far.
“China has an enormous ability to make a difference here,” he said.
But Kerry said the main message he was taking to the tense region is that America will take care of its friends and itself — with its huge military power.
“The United States will, if needed, defend our allies and defend ourselves,” he said. “Kim Jong Un needs to understand, as I think he probably does, what the outcome of the conflict would be.”
US and South Korean officials believe Kim is preparing to test-launch a Musudan missile, which has a range of more than 2,000 miles — well within reach of Japan.
There is widespread belief that if a test launch happens, it would be in the next few days, as North Korea prepares to observe the 101st anniversary of the birth of state founder Kim Il Sung on Monday.
Last year, on April 13, the North tried to show off by firing a long-range missile. It disintegrated on takeoff.
Nevertheless, Japan, the only country to suffer a nuclear attack, is bracing for Kim’s next move.
US Patriot missile batteries were stationed around Tokyo this week, and Aegis destroyers equipped with sea-based interceptor missiles have been deployed in the Sea of Japan. Yesterday, Japan said it would permanently place missile defenses on Okinawa.
Kerry made clear that the United States, its allies and fellow world powers are dead set against Kim’s joining the club of nations with atomic weapons.
“We are all united in the fact that North Korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power,” he said.
But Kerry and the White House hurried to play down the accidentally released intelligence assessment that North Korea already has nuclear-missile capacity.
President Obama’s spokesman, Jay Carney, told reporters in Washington, “I want to be clear that North Korea has not demonstrated the capability to deploy a nuclear-armed missile.”