Kerry says N. Korea missile test will be a huge mistake

SEOUL/NEUCHATEL, Switzerland: US Secretary of State John Kerry delivered a stark warning to North Korea yesterday not to test-fire a mid-range missile, while rejecting a new US intelligence report suggesting significant progress in the communist regime's nuclear weapons program.
Kicking off four days of talks in an East Asia beset by increasing North Korean threats, Kerry told reporters in Seoul that Pyongyang and its enigmatic young leader would only increase their isolation if they launched the missile that American officials believe has a range of some 2,500 miles — or enough to reach the US territory of Guam.
"If Kim Jong-un decides to launch a missile, whether it's across the Sea of Japan or some other direction, he will be choosing willfully to ignore the entire international community," Kerry told reporters. "And it will be a provocation and unwanted act that will raise people's temperatures."
Kerry said the test would be a "huge mistake" for Kim.
"It will further isolate his country and further isolate his people who are desperate for food and not missile launches," he warned. "They are desperate for opportunity and not for a leader to flex his muscles."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meanwhile said yesterday his nation would welcome a fresh round of talks on Swiss soil over North Korea's nuclear program if all the parties were to agree.
Flanked by his Swiss counterpart at a news conference, Lavrov made a show of support for renewed talks in Geneva if Pyongyang were to agree to hold discussions with Russia, Japan, South Korea, the United States and China. But they both made clear there was no such general agreement.
"Russia would of course support it," Lavrov, who spoke in Russian, said in response to a question.
Kerry's diplomatic tour, while planned long in advance, is unusual in that it brings him directly to a region of escalated tensions and precisely at a time when North Korea is threatening action. The North often times its military and nuclear tests to generate maximum attention, and Kerry's presence on the peninsula alone risked spurring Pyongyang into another provocation. Another key date is the 101st birthday of the nation's founder, Kim Il-sung, on April 15.
After meeting South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Kerry also weighed in on an intelligence report that rocked Washington on Thursday and suggested that North Korea now had the knowhow to arm a ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead — even if the weapons would lack reliability. Citing the Pentagon's assessment, Kerry rejected the finding and said that Pyongyang still hadn't developed or fully tested the nuclear capacities needed for such a step.