The US Secretary of State John Kerry made this statement on arrival in Seoul Friday as intelligence from Japan, US and South Korea indicated Friday that a North Korean missile test may be imminent. DEBKAfile reported earlier that the US had raised its nuclear alert status to DEFCON 3, Condition Yellow (out of 5 levels) and China had mobilized its army and was massing troops along its border with North Korea.
US president Barack Obama Thursday called on North Korea to abandon belligerence. He added that the United States will take ‘‘all necessary steps’’ to protect its people. But Obama also said that no one wants to see a conflict on the Korean Peninsula.