TOKYO -- Secretary of State John Kerry has called on China to do more to help resolve the North Korean missile crisis, saying the country provided the Pyongyang regime with a “lifeline.”

In an interview with NBC's TODAY that aired on Monday, Kerry also said any deal with the rogue state would need to be structured so that Pyongyang could not later renege on its terms.

The crisis developed after North Korea threatened to carry out a pre-emptive nuclear strike against its enemies in response to United Nations sanctions imposed because of an underground nuclear test in February and a rocket test in December.

In recent days the North Koreans have readied missiles for launch and some speculated this would happen on Monday, when the nation celebrates the birth of founder Kim Il Sung, current leader Kim Jong Un’s grandfather.

In an interview in Tokyo before flying back to the U.S. on Monday, Kerry said that if the missiles were not fired “that would mean perhaps we're turning a corner and there's a possibility of moving in a better direction.”

“Everybody understands the negative side of what happens if there is a shoot.  And my hope is that we can move in a different direction here. China, I think, is serious about this,” he said. “They understand the instability this is creating.”

Kerry said it was “very important” for the United States to make clear to North Korea that there would be “consequences for their action” and to reaffirm its security agreements with its allies in the region.

“That done, I think it is very important to the Chinese to focus on the fact that ... if they're not prepared to put the pressure on the North -- and they have the greatest ability to have an impact on the North -- then this can become more destabilizing,” he said. “And that instability is not in China's interest, certainly. It's not in anybody's interest in the region.”

“So if we're going to operate according to what's in people's interest, China's and everybody else's, I believe China needs to become more engaged in this effort,” he said.

“It is obvious that China is the lifeline to North Korea. Everybody knows that China provides the vast majority of the fuel to North Korea.  China is their biggest trading party, their biggest food donor and so forth,” he added.

When asked about a comment by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that North Korea had a history of breaking diplomatic deals, Kerry replied: "John is absolutely correct, that has been the pattern. And I have raised that issue with the Chinese … There has been a history of ... just playing this game and then ultimately there's cheating or a complete reneging. We are determined, I am determined to try to find if there is a different formula.  And that is a … conversation that I specifically had with the Chinese.”

On Sunday, Kerry said the United States was prepared to “reach out” to North Korea’s leadership.

The United States has offered talks, but on the precondition that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions. North Korea deems its nuclear arms a "treasured sword" and has vowed never to give them up.

On Monday, North Korean state media made hardly a mention of conflict in contrast to weeks of tirades against its enemies in what some saw as good sign.

"South Korea and the United States have sent a message for dialogue, so for now the North is switching to that mode," Yang Moo-jin, of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told Reuters. "The North's strategic intention has been to try to get some kind of response from the United States and South Korea and now they have that. They won't be brushing away the suggestions to enter dialogue lightly." 

'Bright faces'
In Pyongyang on Monday, residents spilled into the streets in apparent celebration, The Associated Press reported. Girls in red and pink jackets skipped along streets festooned with celebratory banners and flags and parents pushed strollers with babies bundled up against the chill.

"Although the situation is tense, people have got bright faces and are very happy," Han Kyong Sim, a drink stand worker, told the AP. 

Slideshow: North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong Un

The youngest son of Kim Jong Il succeeded his late father in 2011, becoming the third member of his family to rule the unpredictable and reclusive communist state.

Launch slideshow

North Korea's state-controlled KCNA news agency reported that Kim Jong Un had received a letter from the Central Committee of the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front that praised his grandfather.

“The life of Kim Il Sung was an epic-like one of an invincible hero who clarified the truth that arms are a lifeline of the nation and guarantees the victory of revolution, restored the country by leading to victory the hard-fought battles against the Japanese and the U.S. imperialists,” the letter said.

The letter “pledged to join the all-people resistance to frustrate the frantic moves of the hostile forces for a nuclear war and make positive contribution to bringing about a fresh turn in the efforts for national reunification,” KCNA said.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said it remained on guard against any missile launch to coincide with Kim Il Sung’s birth, Reuters reported.

"The military is not easing up on its vigilance on the activities of the North's military with the view that they can conduct a provocation at any time," a ministry spokesman said. 

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

Kerry in Japan: US ready to 'reach out' to North Korea

China urges peaceful resolution of North Korea nuclear standoff

Full North Korea coverage from NBC News

This story was originally published on Mon Apr 15, 2013 7:01 AM EDT

As North Korea continues its bellicose rhetoric, the U.S., as well as China and the rest of Asia are on high alert.

A team of NBC News correspondents have been deployed to cover the potential impact of a missile launch: Richard Engel is in Seoul, South Korea;  Ian Williams is in Beijing, China; and Ayman Mohyeldin is in Tokyo, Japan.

On Friday, they all participated in a Google+ Hangout and discussed the attitudes in their respective countries towards North Korea's rhetoric, the real potential of a missile launch and much more.

Ian Williams weighed in from Beijing saying that the North Korea story has recently generated an “explosion of interest” in the official Chinese state media over the last few days. But what he finds even more significant is the attention the story is getting on social media in China.

Left to right: Ayman Mohyeldin, Richard Engel, Ian Williams.

“Social media, the Internet, is the closest barometer we have got of public opinion here in China. And they are absolutely laying into North Korea. The criticism is  – not of the U.S. – but of North Korea. There are caricatures, there are cartoons, they’ve dubbed the leader Kim Jong Un as ‘Fatty the Third’ or ‘Little Fatty,” Williams reported. Adding “It’s serious – they are questioning precisely what he’s going to stick on top of one of his missiles, questioning the military capability. But also criticizing their own leadership for their association with what they see as a Neanderthal regime whose methods are very chilling.”

Click on the link above to replay the informative chat from three of NBC’s most experienced foreign correspondents.

This story was originally published on Thu Apr 11, 2013 7:10 PM EDT

BEIJING - There was anger and dismay after North Korea launched a long-range rocket into orbit on Wednesday -- plenty of it in South Korea and Japan. There was also surprise.

North Korea had warned of a possible delay to the launch for "technical reasons," although there was speculation that the real reason was political, that China was applying pressure behind the scenes. After all, Beijing had expressed "deep concern" over the test, and that is pretty strong for China, the North's closest diplomatic and economic ally.

So Wednesday's test would seem to be an extraordinary snub to China, when it might be assumed that North Korea's new young leader, Kim Jong Un, would want to get off on a good footing with China's new Communist Party chief, Xi Jinping.

North Korea watchers have been speculating that Kim is angling for an early audience with Xi, which so far has been denied.

North Korea says it successfully launched controversial satellite into orbit

KCNA via Reuters

North Korean scientists work as a screen shows the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket being launched Wednesday.

Launching a rocket in defiance of Beijing would hardly seem a great way of achieving it.

Beijing's initial response was a masterful piece of diplomatic contortionism -- expressing "regret" and calling on Pyongyang to abide by U.N. Security Council resolutions, but at the same time making clear that China isn't about to back sanctions against the North.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman called for a resumption of six-party talks, even though these have been widely discredited, and called for "all sides" to act calmly.

North Korea claims US mainland within range of its missiles

International talks are a big favorite of Beijing, which likes the role of diplomatic ringmaster.

Pyongyang squandered the United States’ trust earlier this year after its April missile test torpedoed a February agreement with the Americans that would have traded U.S. food aid for a suspension of major elements of its nuclear program.

So, what to make of North Korean-China relations? And what pressure is China willing and able to exert on North Korea?

Despite the rocket launch’s international reverberations, Pyongyang's motive was largely domestic, according to Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt of the International Crisis Group, a non-governmental organization that works to prevent deadly conflict around the world.

The move was meant to boost the standing of the young Kim, who has not yet fully consolidated power, and whose credibility was damaged by the failure earlier this year of another attempt to put a satellite into orbit (a thinly disguised ballistic missile test in the view of the U.S. and her allies), she said.

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un still a mystery, Leon Panetta says

And it is fair to speculate that Kim was probably on the edge of his seat during the launch.

"This definitely will be used heavily for internal propaganda in North Korea," Kleine-Ahlbrandt told NBC News. "It's certainly important in light of the failed rocket launch we saw in April."

There have also been reports in the South Korean press (always to be taken with caution) that after purging his enemies, Kim himself  was feeling vulnerable, and had limited his travel outside of Pyongyang while beefing up security around his residences with armored vehicles.

Pyongyang also probably wanted to show Beijing that it is not beholden to anybody, Kleine-Ahlbrandt said, which would seem like quite a high stakes game given the parlous state of the North Korean economy.

Reuters TV

A North Korean KRT TV presenter announces the successful launch in this still image taken from TV.

North Korea: We found a unicorn lair

So, how to read China’s reaction?

“They could certainly do more to pressure Pyongyang,” Kleine-Ahlbrandt said. “And the West would certainly like to see them do that.”

As Beijing prizes stability above all else and would not want to do anything that would further exacerbate tensions or hasten the demise of a fragile regime, China may have a longer-term goal in mind, she said. Beijing was probably intent on heading off another nuclear test, which the North has hinted at, and that would be seen internationally as a far graver development than Wednesday’s rocket launch.

Yan Xuetong, the dean of the Institute of International Studies at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, had a more nuanced view of Chinese diplomacy.

“If China wants to maintain its relatively large influence over North Korea, it has no choice but to adopt a different policy,” than the U.S., he told Reuters.

China was likely as surprised as anybody else by the timing of the launch.

If it is to step up pressure, Beijing is unlikely to publicize it actions. Its immediate aim has been to get the North to adopt Chinese-style economic reforms.

Back in 2010, as part of the leak of the U.S. diplomatic cable, it was revealed that Chinese officials had described North Korea as a “spoiled child.”  That assessment is unlikely to have changed.

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