korea's domestic foreign and military policy challenges and the implications this presents to kim jong-il, kim il-sung's son, and i will look at four key threats that north korea presents to our allies. i'll talk about the north korean nonnuclear threat. all the threats they present militarily that are nonnuclear. i'll talk about the north korean proliferation threat. the north korean nuclear threat which is probably more written about than anything else. and i'll talk bat threat that people don't analyze as bag threat and that the north korean's region session unstable that that causes and how that's a threat to the reason. the succession from kim ongoing toil his son, jim -- kim jong-un. so arrest get into the nonmilitary threat from north korea. what are the biggest challenges that the north korean people's army faces? it's obvious that inadequate resources, particularly food and fuel, limits the training of traditional conventional forces. when i say traditional conventional forces i'm speaking about armor, maybe niced forces. self-propelled are artillery. they have the equivalent of four mechanized

here he is, it includes visiting the mausoleum where his grandfather, kim il-sung and his father kim jong-il lie in state. jim clancy has the latest from seoul, south korea. jim. >> reporter: brooke, john, yes, there were major celebrations going on this day in north korea to mark the 101st birthday of kim il-sung, the founding father of north korea. kim jong-un emerged from two weeks of absence. he appeared to be flanked by members of his military as he visited the glass encased coffins of his grandfather and his father to pay what the north koreans said was the humblest of respects. meantime, in south korea, people got up, had breakfast and went to work and opened up the newspaper. it wasn't kim jong-un on the cover, no, it was psy and the release of his new single. the media here came under a little criticism because of the way that they have described these lavish celebrations in north korea at a time when so many people there are hungry. the north koreans lashed out at them saying that it was not at all the kind of thing that they should be saying on a day like this. there is sti

and they are celebrating the birthday of that country's founder, kim il-sung. that's him on the left there. his grandson, kim jong-un on the right. and he is the young and untested leader behind the escalating rhetoric and tensions with the south. and from south korea tonight, this image, mocking the grandfather and grandson, after north korea rejected a new offer from the south to ease tensions. abc's bob woodruff, standing watch in seoul, south korea, again tonight. >> reporter: for secretary of state john kerry, japan is the last and arguably most tense leg of his asian tour. while he spent some of his time visiting public sites, the bulk of the day was about solving the crisis with north korea. >> the biggest priority is a peaceful resolution to the issues of north korea. >> reporter: kerry's japan visit puts him well within the range of a threatened missile test from north korea. a launch that could come at any moment, as the north marks its biggest holiday, the birth of founder kim il-sung. the missile, known as musadan,

the day they mark the birthday of kim il-sung by showing off their military. with kim il-sung's grandson kim jong-un now threatening nuclear strikes, the region is on aer north koreaaid japan would be the first country targeted. and margaret brennan is in tokyo tonight. >> reporter: under the threat of a missile launch, the japanese are armed and ready. anti-missile defenses have been positioned around the country. >> we without hope that whatever considerations or fears the north has of the united states, or of others in the region, that they would come to the table in a responsible way and negotiate that. >> but talks do not appear likely. north korean state tv dismissed a south korean peace offer as a crafty trick. china north korea's only ally also made an appeal and publicly called for it to abandon its nuclear weapons. so far north korea has not responded. with no diplomatic breakthroughs, kerry repeated that the u.s. will defend its allies in the case of an attack and justified the u.s. military buildup in the region. >> the president of the united state

at statues of kim il-sung and kim jong-il. >>> north korea's leaders have made repeated threats targeting people in other countries, in spite of repeated calls for restraint. officials in pyongyang escalated tensions after u.n. security council members approved stricter sanctions. they were responding to north korea's third nuclear test. the country's military leaders have issued a series of warnings that they're ready to attack. they threatened to strike targets in the united states, south korea and japan. south korean government officials suspect north korean agents were behind a series of cyber attacks last month. they affected more than 50,000 computers and tv stations and major banks. officials believe the attacks were the work of north korea's reconnaissance general bureau, which conducts espionage against the south. this month south korean officials said the north appears ready to launch the musudan, a midrange ballistic missile, and several short-range missiles. defense analysts are trying to understand where all of this is headed. akimoto has been tracking the situation for the r

around embedding the ideology. >> in 1994 after decades spent enslaving the north korean people kim il sung died. >> there was genuine grieving when kim il sung died the legend they looked at almost as a super natural being. >> the successor was trying to become god like. >> kim jong-il was the oldest son. >> kim jong-il was said to have been born on the sacred mountain. this is where by korean legend the korean nation began many thousands of years ago. >> the small mountain cabin where it claims his mother gave birth is today a shrine. >> in fact he was born in russia when his father was with the russian military. >> by the early 1980s it seems that he had carved out a really significant niche himself within the power structure. >> kim jong-il was a compare tore of funds to a lot of people in the western world because he was short and had the beau font hair and wore elevator shoes. he was in truth a very brutal dictator. >> he had incredibly expensive taste from everything from alcohol to cigarettes to expensive boats. >> it was often reported he liked american culture. >> he loved america

also on monday is kim il-sung's birthday. 's marking the anniversary of the country's founder and grandfather of kim jong-un. there are some who fear it could be the day north korea performs one of their missile tests. on wednesday margaret thatcher's funeral will be in london. demonstrators are expected to protest the former conservative prime minister. and there's even a dark campaign to get "wizard of oz" song to hit the charts. thursday rock and roll hall of fame, famousin du -- come with saturday. international cannabis day for some people. expected to host the country's biggest pot rally. you won't find any rallies at california's joshua tree national park though. if you do, they're probably going to be angry ones. officials have been forced to close some areas until the end of the month because of rampant graffiti. and park officials believe social media may be filling the vandalism. people are posting pictures of their work at the sites and the trend is taking off. vandal who is are caught face a $5,000 fine and up to

instead, people are celebrating the birthday of the country's first communist leader, kim il- sung. >> the leaders of the past still dominate in pyongyang, as they do in all aspects of life in north korea. people celebrated the birthday as normal on monday. it was no sign of the tensions that have been escalating under his grandson. his bite speculation from the outside world, pyongyang did not -- despite speculation from the outside world, pyongyang did not mark their country's most important holiday with a missile launch. at the south korean border, demonstrators called on kim jong-un's regime to return to the nick -- to the negotiating table. that appeal was echoed by the country's foreign minister. >> we must impress on north korea to realize that without change, there is no hope for economic development. >> there have been attempts to reduce the tension from u.s. secretary of state john kerry, who was in japan on the last leg of his east asian tour. at a meeting with prime minister shinzo abe, he underlined america's commitment to a diplomatic approach, saying the u.s. remains op

. >> on monday, north koreans will observe the birthday of the nation's founder kim il-sung. they're already marking another event. it's been one year since kim jong-un took other as ruler of the working party. >>> we want north korean officials to sit down with us for talk. kim has kept people guessing ever since he came to power. for many, he remains a mystery. more from nhk world. >> reporter: people outside of north korea knew little of kim jong-un when he took over as leader. more than a year later, they're not sure they know much more. he's appeared in orchestrated events, often with a military theme. he spoke last april at the parade to celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of his grandfather, the nation's founder kim il-sung. >> translator: we need to strengthen our military, to make north korea a strong and thriving country. >> reporter: kim moved to switzerland when he was still a boy to attend school. some hoped his experience abroad would help him move away from the experience of his father kim jong-il. initially, he showed his softer side. talking to c

and they are celebrating the birthday, there, of that country's founder, kim il-sung. that's him on the left there. his grandson, kim jong-un on the right. and he is the young and untested leader behind the escalatining rhetoric and tensions with the south. from south korea tonight, this image, mocking the grandfather and grandson, after they rejected a new offer to ease tensions. bob woodruff, standing in seoul, south korea, again tonight. >> reporter: for secretary of state john kerry, japan is the last and arguably most tense leg of his asian tour. while he spent some of his time visiting public sites, the bulk of the day was about solving the crisis with north korea. >> the biggest priority is a peaceful resolution to the issues of north korea. >> reporter: kerry's japan visit puts him well within the range of a threatened missile test from north korea. a launch that could come at any moment, as the north marks its biggest holiday, the birth of founder kim il-sung. the missile, known as musadan, has never been fired before. the most likely trajectory would send it o

thou sand paying their respects to the country's founder, kim il-sung and kim jong-un. >> celebrations went on as usual despite the growing tensions over the nuclear threat. abc's correspondent reports on the diplomatic efforts. >> reporter: in international marathon dominated headlines in pyongyang on the streets, flags marking north korean founder kim il-sung's 101 birthday today. speculating that kim jong-un would launch a missile to mark the holiday, but in tokyo sunday, secretary of state john kerry urged pyongyang to opt for a peaceful resolution. >> we can find a way to resolve these differences at a negotiating table. i hope they will hear that. >> reporter: kerry's visit here the last leg of an asia trip aimed at temporary tensions on the korean peninsula. in japan where 47,000 u.s. troops are based there is increasing unease. pyongyang has singled out japan as the first target in case of war. and with its mid range missiles within striking range, tokyo has deployed destroyers and missile batteries in the center of the capital. those interceptors back there are pointed directl

and the founder, kim il-sung. so, what you want is to watch very closely, what their intentions are. in the end, i think it's important for everybody to keep cool. the biggest damage here is a misjudgment, a miscalculation on the yellow sea. naval vessels, at the border. you mentioned at the dmz. i think the u.s. military is playing it positively, well, basically saying, there's going to be a response, a cost, if there is an aggressive action. and that's all we can do. i think there's an internal game, possibly a power struggle in north korea, with the young leader, not necessarily fielding his oats. but uncertain where to go. >> you were there, i was there with you for six days in december 2010, when kim jong-il was still in power. you were there more recently, january of this year, with eric schmid, the head of google. and a few days this year, when kim jong-un has been in power. between the visits, did you sense any real change in north korea? >> well, i thought that the new leader, kim jong-un, would be more -

during the day some reports suggested that north koreans would want to do that on their late leader kim il sung's birthday as is often happening in the countries like north korea when they want to show something to the world and they do it on a particular date which is memorable to the whole nation. it is also interesting to see the. a transformation of north korea under the embargo under the sanctions which the country has been living in for many years already not only have they managed to build missiles to create missiles which could potentially be dangerous for the whole region and even reach the shores of the western shores of the united states but also there are speculation peculation and there is information that the north korean media barging on the space program and so definitely the this crazy twisted crazy saga of grievances continuing we're watching the situation here in the far east and we'll update our viewers with all the latest developments as we get them throughout the day. live from moscow this is r.t. a world renowned turkish pianist has been handed a ten month suspended prison

korea's most important holiday of the year, april 15th is the birthday of the country's founder kim il-sung. he died 18 years ago. now his grandson, kim jung-un has southeast asia and the world on threat. many wonder if he'll use his grandfather's birthday to make good on the explosive rhetoric. i'm joined by jim clancy. jim, any evidence at this point that the holiday could be the day that north korea puts its military might on display? >> no, there's no indication of that whatsoever. the rhetoric has been toned down. you know, in fact, the news of the hour is that as we have been waiting for a response to the call from dill log coming from south korea, there was, indeed, a response that came from the committee for peaceful reunification in north korea and the group, well, they did attack, if you will, their counterpart in the south while he did call the offer of dialogue a cunning ploy, they didn't reject it outright. that is seen as progress here. now, kim jung-un has not been seen in some two weeks. the rhetoric has been toned down. south korean officials on saturday indicated that ther

it's a holiday in the communist nation, a time to recognize the birthday of its founder kim il-sung. first time in days we've seen his grandson, the current leader kim jong-un. he did not mark the day by firing a missile and defying the world, but for weeks this regime has threatened nuclear strikes on neighboring south korea and on the united states. today in japan, secretary of state john kerry sat down with cnn and urged north korea to dehad behave responsibly. >> to make it clear to hopefully reasonable, somebody who's reasonable in north korea, as well as to the chinese who have an impact on north korea, that we are deadly serious about our obligations and about our desire -- our intent to stand up to these provocative and reckless actions. >> today there was no fiery rhetoric from north korea, given the belligerent tone of the last couple of weeks, that alone is noteworthy. and while that may be a nod to the importance of the holiday, passions still run high across the peninsula. key yong law has the view from south korea. >> reporter: screaming "stop the dictatorship," these ri

they are marking the birthday of north korea's late founder kim il-sung. his grandson is the current leader kim jong-un and he appeared publicly for the first time in weeks. secretary of state john kerry had a message for him if he wants to hold talks with world powers, he needs to ditch north korea's nuclear program. >>> in venezuela he was once a bus driver and now he will be the president. shortly before his death hugo chavez tapped maduro to be his successor. using that leverage maduro narrowly won yesterday's election. >> he squeaked by with 50.7% of the votes. his opponent capriles is refusing to concede. he is demanding now a recount. >>> in china a 4-year-old boy carrying the bird flu virus but not showing any symptoms. doctors are taking a close look at him to figure out how to treat others perhaps using him as a case. two more people have died from bird flu bringing the total death toll to 13. >>> the world health organization is trying to find the source of the infection. it could be china's poultry market. several cities in eastern china have su

korea's threats of nuclear ambitions the country is preparing the mother birthday of its founder kim il sung next week with a flamboyant show of military strength the neighboring south says the communist state already has five medium range missiles on its east coast that it could fire off at any moment war talk coming from pyongyang over the past month has prompted seoul and the u.s. to put their forces on increased military alert with japan deploying missile interceptors around its capital tokyo and it's believed north korea is preparing indeed to test launch several mid range ballistic missiles capable of hitting not only the south but maybe also american bases on the island of guam in the west pacific and while many analysts have played down the threat posed by the new missile test the united nations has more than any slight misstep on the potential of could escalate into an all out confrontation that's the worry for more perspective on this developing story let's go to art is contributor afshin rattansi joining us on the line from london hi i should even to you u.s. secretary of state jo

10th, but most likely to strike this monday, the 15th, the birthday of kim jong-un's grandfather, kim il-sung and a most important day on north korea's calendar. the young kim was reportedly infuriated after u.s. sanctions were clamped down. this for background. and that was in response to new missile and nuclear tests over the winter. but many here believe that pyongyang's threats are part of a -- an old pattern. pressuring the international community to giving up concessions to north korea. it's one of the world's poorest countries, and that concession is usually in the form of cash. anyhow, we're looking, we're monitoring the situation very carefully with these missile launchers, because that could be a turning point. >> yeah. some very good news on that front. and that may have answered the question what does north korea hope to get from this. and that may, indeed, be the return to the talks, as you've said. jim maceda, thank you very much for the developments. >>> now, in indonesia, a plane ended up in the sea after skidding off a runway on the resort island of bali. the airplane with ov

it is monday in north korea and the country is honoring its late founder kim-il- sung, kim jong un's grandfather. he was born on april fifteenth -- 101-years ago. workers and party loyalists took part in a ceremony that honored their late leader -- who died almost 20-years ago. other celebrations included an international marathon in pyongyang. runners from all around the world took part in it. despite the fact that north korea recently warned foreign diplomats that they could no longer guarantee their safety during these tense times. for most south koreans the highly celebrated holiday to the north is mostly ignored. coming up. tim lincecum took the mound for the giants in chicago today. could he bounce back after his last disappointing start or would it be more of the same? find out when kron four news at eleven continues. , it is windy. for the wind will pick up even the chance of rainfall. details, coming up. >> kron 4 news is rolling out a new program called kron rewards. for the entire month of april, watch kron 4 news at eight in the morning or eight at night and you can earn

today, statues of kim i will sung and kim john-il were unveiled. as richard engel reports, the world is watching to see if the country will test fire a missile to mark the occasion. >> reporter: here in seoul, we are still waiting to see if north korea will, in fact, test fire at least one missile. we have been waiting for days. is it just hype, will it actually ever happen. we may find out tomorrow. tomorrow is the anniversary in north korea of the birth of the country's late founder, kim il-sung, a time where there are usually military parades and shows of force. the missile launch could be timed to coincide with the anniversary. across the region people are still on edge. countries are still worried what this missile test could mean. diplomatically, we could be seeing some progress, particularly between the united states and china. secretary kerry in japan was earlier in china, had what seemed to be productive meetings, both the u.s. and china appearing to agree to return to diplomacy to resume negotiations to try to get north korea to give up i

north korean capital pyongyang are celebrating the birthday of kim il sung. as the party goes on leaders in south korea the united states are in the north activities concerned they may carry out a launch of medium range nuclear missile. north korea must tone down the rough rhetoric about a possible nuclear war. >> the north's dangerous ann arboring layer missile program threatens not only north korea's neighbors but threatens its own people and tlents the concept of a dream. the united states remains open to authentic globalization on de nukezation but the burden is on pyongyang. >> kerry urged north korea to take meaningful steps. north korea said they would try to de nuclear risize. it took a roll in persuading north korea to pull back from the threats. the u.s. remains open to credible meaningful dialogue and negotiations of korea but the burden is on pyongyang. >> kelly wright, thank you. >> it is time to take a look at who is talking. a big talker on the president's 2014 budget. >> this budget calls for entitlement reforms and even more tax hikes. that c

feel the same love and devotion to him that you felt to kim jong-il, just by watching this television? yes, i feel the same. he looks like kim il-sung. he looks exactly like his grandfather. he's the same. he's doing exactly what his grandfather and his father did. the power of propaganda on a people, the power of a regime. >> it's amazing to see her reaction. you know, even though she's escaped, to see just her reaction looking at that, to talk about her love of -- for the kim family seems kind of shocking. >> reporter: it shocked her as well. this is a woman who fled north korea. if she was caught, she would have faced execution. she's not someone ho loves this regime, but she had this incredible emotional reaction. anderson, what i found really interesting is, after she started having this reaction, she almost couldn't understand my questions. she couldn't respond to these questions. i met her three years ago, she's very sharp. it was as if she lost that edge as soon as she started watching television. really gives us a window into this regime's power over its people. >> the impact this has growing up in it. kyung, thanks, as alw

feel the same love and devotion to him that you felt to kim jong-il, just by watching this television? yes, i feel the same. he looks like kim il-sung, exactly like his grandfather. he's the same. he's doing exactly what his grandfather and his father did. the power of propaganda on a people, the power of a regime. remember, this is a woman who risked her life to get out of north korea, to escape this regime. and she's still having this response. wolf, it is certainly a window into us understanding how north korea can continue to exist. >> it really is amazing when you think about it. kyung lah if seoul, thank you for that report. let's bring back our chief international correspondent christiane amanpour, and fareed zakaria. christiane, you see this love supposedly that even this defector still has for the kim dynasty. what does it tell you about that power, that that family wields over the north korean people? >> well, i think that it's infatuation. i've been there. i was in pyongyang twice, and i went up to where the big gold statue of kim il-sung the founder is. and people go there on special occasions. that is their pilgrimage v

kim jong il gave himself a promotion. they have a national holiday for that. none of these holidays come pair to the really big one in north korea, the birthday of kim il-sung, grants -- grandfather of the former dictator and father of the current one and it's the biggest holiday in the country in a country with many holidays. his birthday on april 15th really is the big one. that becomes an important thing to know not just for dictator holiday trivia. in years past, it's been around things like the big kim un jong's birthday celebration and the launch that fell into the sea and the north koreans did decide to launch it around this time. we feel that timing was not an accident. in 2009, north koreans tried another rocket launch around this time. april 5th of that year. that was also a failure. this week, there have been weeks and weeks of speculation whether north korea might start a war with south korea and ratcheted up the threats in recent weeks and will engulf their enemies in a sea of fire. there have yet to be any seas of fire and north korea does have the chicken little problem of making these kinds of threats all the time and try to launch a rocket and fall

april 15th marks the birth of north korean founder, kim il-sung.reation of the north korean army. the chairman of the joint chiefs says the u.s. strengthened missile defenses and made other decisions to combat the potential threat. abc's martha raddatz has more about north korea's president kim jong-un. >> reporter: he had a nuclear test that was successful, he had a long-range missile test that was successful. a 29-year-old who feels emboldened at this point. going into this week, i think you might see in the week or week after that, a mid range missile test possible two missiles those mobile missiles that were trying to track in north korea, probably launch them into the water. the fear is that south korea or japan will react to that provocation militarily. >> that was abc's martha raddatz. because of the ongoing tensions the u.s. top military commander in south korea has canceled a trip to washington this week. >>> the body of an american diplomat killed in afghanistan now being returned to the u.s. later today. abc's muhammad lila knew anne sme

all eyes on north korea as the founder of north korean kim il sung approaches but will the country mark the occasion with a missile launch? >> covering the world, tomorrow marks the anniversary of the birth of north korean founder il sung, one the world will be watching. the big question, will north military test-fire a missile to celebrate? seoul we are waiting to see if north korea will, in one, test-fire at least missile. we've been waiting for days. will itst hype, actually happen? we my find out tomorrow. inorrow is the anniversary north korea of the birth of the country's late founder, kim is a timend it traditionally when there are military parades and military displays of force. the missile launch, if it be timed told coincide with that anniversary. the region are worried about what the missile test could mean. diplomatically, we could be progress,e particularly between the united states and china. secretary kerry was in china and be ahat seemed to productive meeting with both the u and china appearing to agree return to diplomacy to resume negotiation to get north korea up nucl

the people in p'yongyang stood in silence and delivered flowers to honor their onetime founder kim il- sung. take stepsrea will to honor commitments it has already made. >> the assault was met with anger. traditional veterans of the korean war had effigies of the nation's past and leaders. >> it is -- >> south korean officials believe the threat of a missile launch could be dragged out for some time. rejected offers for peace talks. doug gonzales, abc 7 news. >> remember to stay with abc 7 news and wjla.com for the latest on north korea's growing threat. we will also have continuing coverage tonight on abc 7 news starting at 5:00. it was a wet start to the work week with more a part showers in our area. jacqui jeras has a look at first forecast. >> good morning. things are looking a bit dammed in a few spots. -- a bit damp in a few spots. about four hours or so ago. it turned very spotty, it is all dissipating and weakening. a lot of this is just a drizzle being reported. we're cloudy in the district at this hour with 61 degrees. winds are east southeast so we're not going to budge to much

world waits to see if north korea will test fire a missile to celebrate the birthday of founder kim il-sung. displays of military force traditionally mark this and south korea -- john kerry is meeting with leaders in china has both north and south korea thee agreed to denuclearize korean peninsula. >> i believe that china will join with others to make a policy real, and to implement it. i think that if we don't, all of our non-proliferation efforts began to suffer. >> john kerry also talked about the strong alliance with japan and america's commitment to defend that country. a former justice of the piece is being questioned in the murder of a texas district attorney. was charged with making terrorist threats. he was prosecuted for theft by just twoe mcclelland months after the assistant district attorney was killed. no suspects have been named. the changetempers on of the september 11 memorial museum. the museum is now charging $2 per ticket reserved online or by phone. the ceo says that this is necessary to cover operational costs, but some are unhappy because it was promised that mission

. >> also on monday, north korea celebrated the 101st anniversary of the birth of its founder, kim il-sung despite recent talk of war, they stayed,. - - calm. celebrations were more muted than in recent years. tuesday saw a major earthquake that affected both iran and pakistan. almost all the victims were on the pakistani side of the border. >> we were in the bazaar at 3:30 p.m. when we felt the earthquake. our houses were destroyed. our children were scared. some of them got injured. our appeal to the government is that they should help us. >> many thousands of people were left homeless. in islamabad, buildings shook. on wednesday, there was a huge explosion in texas at a fertilizer factory in west. witnesses recorded the disaster on mobile phones. >> there is shrapnel flying everywhere. >> at least 14 people died. another 60 people were still missing by the end of the week. >> i can tell you i was there. i walked through the blast area. i searched houses earlier tonight. massive. just like iraq, just like the murray building in oklahoma city. thehe authority said that blast was likely ca

the nation's founder, kim il sung. >> translator: we need to strengthen our military to make north korea a strong and thriving country. >> reporter: kim moved to switzerland when he was still a boy to attend school. some hoped his experiences abroad would persuade him to move away from the policies of his father, kim jong il. initially he showed a softer side, talking to children across the country. attending a concert that featured disney characters. often with his wife at his side. gradually, though, kim changed his tonement he made it clear that he would maintain the military first policy of his father. in december, north korean authorities launched what they called a rocket to put a satellite into orbit. but most countries agree what they fired off was a ballistic missi missile. then two months later -- >> translator: we've just succeeded in our third nuclear test. >> reporter: kim went ahead with another nuclear test, defying leaders from around the world. and he wasn't done. >> translator: will nullify the 1953 armistice that ended the korean war. >> reporter: kim announced his mil

it would have been the birthday of the country's founder kim il sung. organizers plan various events in the capitol, pyongyang. at one of them, leaders repeated their threats against the united states and it's allies. >> translator: north korea is developing nuclear weapons in both quality and quantity. we will mercilessly punish the united states and it's lies. >> north korean leaders have threatened to attack targets in the u.s., south korea and japan. security analysts believe their forces have completed preparations for the launches of an immediate range and short range ballistic missiles. top diplomats say the work with chinese leaders to try to rein in the north koreans. >>> john kerry made his first visit to japan as secretary of state. >> translator: we agreed that north korea should stop its provocative actions immediately and that we will show a firm stance on the denuclearization of the korean peninsula. we will never allow north korea to possess nuclear arms. >> we, japan, the united states and the other countries that i have met with in the

kim jong-il, father of the current dictator, kim jong-un. this rocket last april which was launched but failed took place a couple days before the 100th birthday of kim jong-un's grandfather, kim il-sung. this is why the experts are now closely watching the rallies on the streets, the movements of missiles toward the coast trying to predict what will happen if a missile is launched how south korea, japan or the u.s. should react. shooting it down or letting it fall into the sea. >> we think we have the capability to knock this missile down, but we've never tested against it, and so until you actually do it for real, there's no knowing that we have absolutely 100% certainty of knocking this down. so there's obviously going to be some tension within the u.s., as well. can we actually engage this missile? >> reporter: in a frightening warning, the north korean government is encouraging foreign embassies including britain and russia to leave before april 10th because they cannot guarantee their security anymore. but this morning, here in seoul, life appears to be pretty normal. in the rain, the streets are filled because they have lived through such propaganda so many times, they are fair