North Korea rolls out missiles, other weaponry at parade

“We will respond to an all-out war with an all-out war and a nuclear war with our style of a nuclear attack”, said Choe Ryong Hae as translated by the BBC.

As the parade unfolded in Pyongyang, China’s state-run media warned that the U.S. president was mistaken if he believed that piling military pressure on North Korea would resolve the regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Air China has made a decision to suspend its flights between Beijing and North Korean capital Pyongyang.

“North Korea is not particularly interested in giving up their nuclear weapons, but I don’t think they are going to fight to the death over it”.

North Korea conducted two such tests previous year alone, which analysts say would have taken the country a step forward in gaining the knowledge to make nuclear weapons small enough to fit on long-range missiles.

The Trump administration intends to keep secret the names of White House visitors, a break from former President Barack Obama’s voluntary disclosure policy, Time reports.

North Korea has warned the U.S. not to take provocative action in the region, saying it is “ready to hit back with nuclear attacks”.

There’s also anger in Pyongyang over the annual spring military exercises that the USA holds with South Korea.

In a new interview with The Associated Press in Pyongyang, Vice Minister Han Song Ryol said North Korea “will go to war” with the US if provoked.

Earlier this week USA intelligence officials told NBC News the military was ready for a preemptive strike on North Korea if a nuclear test looks imminent.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Saturday showcased its military muscles by parading all of its most-advanced ballistic and tactic missiles, including a submarine-launched ballistic missile which could strike targets 1000 km away.

A series of what appeared to be KN-08 missiles were among the weapons rolled out on trucks.

The comments follow warnings from the Trump administration that it could take military action against North Korea’s growing nuclear ambitions.

Weapons analysts say some of the missiles on display were new types of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).

Air China and North Korea’s Air Koryo are the only two airlines serving that route, with the latter operating on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The strike could also include “could include missiles and bombs, cyber and special operations on the ground”, NBC News reported.

“That is something that our headquarters decides”, Han said of another nuclear test.

The Pukkuksong submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) were also on parade.

“If the USA comes up with a risky military option, then the first card is in our hands”.

China on Friday urged both United States and North Korea to refrain from mounting pressure on each other so as to not soon reach an “irreversible and unmanageable stage”.

Despite all the displays on Saturday, analysts cautioned against overreaction, noting that North Korea’s missile tests have had a checkered record of success, and adding that a missile in a parade does not necessarily mean it’s operational.