Bangkok: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has pleaded with the United States to show restraint towards North Korea, saying its leader Kim Jong-un "wants to end the world".
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Speaking on behalf of the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Mr Duterte warned that one miscalculated missile, nuclear warhead or bomb would cause a "catastrophe" and Asia would be the first victim.
"The guy [Mr Kim] simply wants to end the world, that is why he is very happy. He is always smiling. But he really wants to finish everything and he wants to drag us all down," Mr Duterte said after a two-day summit of ASEAN leaders in Manila.
Mr Duterte said he would convey the regional bloc's "extreme concerns" to US President Donald Trump, cautioning that as a responsible nation the US should not rise to Mr Kim's provocations.
"There seems to be two countries playing with their toys and those toys are not really to entertain," said Mr Duterte.
"You know they are playing with somebody who relishes letting go of missiles and everything. I would not want to go into his [Mr Kim's] mind because I really do not know what is inside but he's pushing Mother Earth ... to an edge," he added.
Tensions between the US and North Korea have risen sharply in recent weeks after a series of ballistic missile tests, prompting dire warnings from the Trump administration over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
ASEAN's stand came after North Korea's latest ballistic missile test early on Saturday. US and South Korean officials said the test appeared to have failed.
The US has deployed the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson off the Korean Peninsula.
Just days before the ASEAN summit, North Korea appealed to the grouping to support Pyongyang in its dispute with the US to prevent what it called a "nuclear holocaust".
But ASEAN leaders ignored the appeal.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said ASEAN needs to be "strong and united" in dealing with North Korea.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis at the weekend urged North Korea and the US to cool a situation that had become "too hot" and warned that a "good part of humanity" would be destroyed in any widespread war.
"I call on, and will call on, all leaders, as I have called on leaders in various places, to work to seek a solution to problems through the path of diplomacy," he said.
Wrapping up the summit, ASEAN leaders backed away from addressing China's build-up of islands and reefs in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, indicating continued disagreement among member states on how to ease tensions over the strategic waterways.
