Kim Jong Un marks Armistice Day 62nd anniversary

It also shows that the “door is open” to North Korea should it choose to break away from its diplomatic and economic isolation, Seiler said.

South Korea on July 27 commemorates the 62nd armistice anniversary of the Korean War. However, it has never been converted into a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreans in a technical state of war.

Students participate in a mass dance in front of a mural of the…

As part of its coverage of Kim Jong-un’s celebration of “Victory Day”, Pyongyang’s official news agency mentioned reunification with South Korea, which is a goal that both sides share on the surface.

North Korea has said it is not interested in an Iran-like dialogue to give up its nuclear capabilities, which it has called an “essential deterrence” against hostile US policy.

A senior nuclear envoy from the U.S. held talks in Seoul on Monday to discuss ways to bring North Korea back to dialogue on denuclearizing the military state – even as all indications suggest Pyongyang is moving in the opposite direction.

It is unusual for Kim to extend respects to Chinese veterans at a time when the North’s relations with China have been seriously strained following the North’s nuclear test in 2013.

On Monday, officials took the opportunity of the armistice anniversary to step up their anti-US rhetoric and call upon the nation to redouble its devotion to the third leader in the Kim dynasty, and prepare for a final showdown with Washington.

The statement at a daily press briefing by spokesperson John Kirby came in response to a commentary the same day by the North Korean Foreign Ministry stating that North Korea was a full-fledged nuclear power and would not abandon its nuclear weapons.

“By cherishing the spirit of defending the country created by their forerunners at the cost of their blood, young people should respond heartily to the calls of their country as the heroic soldiers did in the 1950s”, Kim said during his congratulatory speech.

According to the state-run Korean Central Television, he delivered a speech on Sunday at a gathering of war veterans.

“It is more than 60 years since the ceasefire on (the) land, but peace has not yet settled on it”, he told the meeting, which included high-level officials, veterans and diplomats stationed in Pyongyang.

“The past Korean war brought about the beginning of the downhill turn for the US, but the second Korean war will bring the final ruin to US imperialism”.