Tokyo:Japan said Friday it would deploy Patriot missiles in Okinawa permanently from this month as part of its efforts to boost defence capability amid concerns over North Korea’s missile threat.

Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said his ministry would station Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) systems at two military bases in the southern Japanese island “at the earliest opportunity in April”.

The ministry had earlier planned to deploy them by March 2015 but “we were considering advancing the plan that will protect people’s lives and property against ballistic missiles,” Onodera told a news conference.

The move came as the country remains on full alert ahead of an expected mid-range missile launch by North Korea.

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned North Korea on Friday it would be a “huge mistake” to launch the missile and said the United States would never accept the reclusive country as a nuclear power.

Addressing reporters after talks with South Korea’s president and leaders of the 28,000-strong US military contingent in the country, Kerry also said it was up to China, North Korea’s sole major ally, to “put some teeth” in efforts to press Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

Kerry, like other US officials, played down an assessment from the Pentagon’s intelligence agency that the North already had a nuclear missile capacity.

The United States, he said, wanted to resume talks about North Korea’s earlier pledges to halt its nuclear programme, but would defend its allies in the region if necessary.

North Korea has repeatedly said it will not abandon nuclear weapons which it said on Friday were its “treasured” guarantor of security.

Kerry’s visit coincided with preparations for Monday’s anniversary of North Korean state founder Kim Il-Sung’s birth date, a possible pretext for a show of strength, with speculation focusing on a possible new missile launch.

Kerry, who flies to China on Saturday and to Japan on Sunday, said that if North Korea’s 30-year-old leader, Kim Jong-un, proceeded with a launch, “he will be choosing, willfully, to ignore the entire international community”.

“I would say ahead of time that it is a huge mistake for him to choose to do that because it will further isolate his country and further isolate his people, who frankly are desperate for food, not missile launches.”

As the world watches to see what North Korea’s next move will be in a high-stakes game of brinksmanship with the United States, residents of its capital aren’t hunkering down in bunkers and preparing for the worst. Instead, they are out on the streets en masse getting ready for the birthday of national founder Kim Il Sung - the biggest holiday of the year.

The festivities leading up to Kim’s birthday come amid fears that North Korea may be planning to test launch a new missile in retaliation for what it claims are provocative war games by US and South Korean troops just across the Korean border. Even at such a seemingly innocuous setting as a flower show in Kim’s honour, North Korea’s warning that it is prepared to strike back if pushed too far is on prominent display.