克里抵达首尔,期间人们担心朝鲜导弹试射

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived Friday in Seoul, amid concern North Korea will soon conduct another provocative missile test.

Kerry will hold talks with South Korean officials, including President Park Geun-hye during his visit. He will also meet with U.S. military commanders based in the country.

His visit comes as speculation increased that North Korea is preparing to test a mid-range missile to demonstrate its ability to hit U.S. targets in the region.

A U.S. official in Seoul said there is no sign of an imminent launch of the North\'s Musudan missile, which is believed to have a range of 3,500 kilometers and could threaten U.S. bases in Japan or Guam.

Some believe Pyongyang will coordinate the headline-grabbing missile test with Kerry\'s arrival. Seoul has said it expects the test to occur in the run-up to Monday\'s birthday celebration of North Korean founding leader Kim Il Sung.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials are downplaying a U.S. intelligence report disclosed Thursday that suggested Pyongyang has succeeded miniaturizing a nuclear weapon.

The analysis, disclosed by a congressman Thursday during a routine budget hearing, said Washington defense officials are moderately confident the North has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles.

克里在访问期间将与包括朴槿惠总统在内的韩国官员举行会谈。此外，克里还将会见驻韩美军指挥官。

在克里访问韩国之际，有关朝鲜试射一枚中程导弹以显示有能力打击该地区美国目标的猜测增多。

一名美国官员在首尔说，目前没有迹象显示朝鲜将很快发射舞水端导弹，据信这种导弹的射程为3500公里，可对日本和关岛的美军基地构成威胁。

一些人认为，平壤会选在克里抵达韩国之际进行这次世人瞩目的导弹试射。首尔曾经表示，预计平壤将在下星期一庆祝朝鲜建国领导人金日成诞辰之前试射导弹。

与此同时，美国官员淡化处理星期四透露的一份情报报告，该报告称平壤已经成功研制出小型核弹头。

星期四，一名美国国会议员在一次例行预算听证会上披露了这份分析报告的内容，分析报告说华盛顿的防务官员在某种程度上相信朝鲜拥有可以通过弹道导弹发射的核武器。