US Secretary of State John Kerry is in China, for a visit he has said he
will use to urge Beijing to use its influence to rein in North Korea.
Mr Kerry's four-day tour of Asia comes amid speculation that North
Korea is preparing for a missile launch.
In South Korea on Friday, he said that a policy of denuclearisation
shared by the US and China had to have "teeth".
The US says there is no evidence North Korea can fire a nuclear warhead
as suggested by a leaked US report.
North Korea has reportedly moved at least two Musudan ballistic
missiles to its east coast.
A flurry of warlike statements from Pyongyang has prompted speculation
that it might launch a missile - possibly on 15 April, when the country marks
the 101st birthday of the nation's founder and former leader, Kim Il-sung.
Since the UN imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea in February, its
leadership has promised to restart a mothballed nuclear reactor, has shut an
emergency military hotline to South Korea, and has urged diplomatic staff to
leave, saying it cannot guarantee their safety.
The North says it has also been angered by joint US-South Korean
military exercises.
Though North Korean rhetoric has been more bellicose than usual,
analysts say it fits a long-standing pattern, and may be intended to boost the
popularity of Kim Jong-un, who came to power last year.
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