North Korea shows off military hardware in massive anniversary celebration parade

In a rare speech to the assembled masses, a tribute to the ruling party that has served at the whim of three generations of the Kim dynasty, the leader lashed out at the United States, vowing to fight “any war” if provoked.

“South Korea, the USA and relevant military authorities are closely watching the situation”, he said.

The North’s young leader resided over the largest-ever parade held at Kim Il-sung Square with thousands of soldiers marching across the square. The North’s Korean Central Television showed footage of the two men laughing and waving throughout.

It is not entirely clear exactly what was said during Friday’s meeting between Kim and Liu.

Tanks, armoured vehicles and a variety of mounted missiles rolled past Mr Kim, his entourage of stern, nodding generals and the most important guest, Liu Yunshan, number five in China’s Communist Party and the most senior foreign visitor at the event.

Even though North Korean officials did not divulge details of the celebration plans in advance, open-source satellite imagery has been monitoring large-scale troop activities at the Mirim military air base in Pyongyang, which has been rigged with a mock-up of Kim Il-sung Square.

After his speech, thousands of soldiers held up cards to spell out “Songun politics” and “Defending our homeland”.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un has delivered a defiant message to his enemies as the country marked the 70th anniversary of the governing Workers’ Party.

Kim changed his mind after North Korean athletes sustained losses at a series of global tournaments, which made him angry, according to the Tokyo Shimbun.

The return of China to North Korea’s sphere of influence after Pacific Command chief Navy Adm. Harry B. Harris, Jr., warned North Korea’s behavior had grown increasingly volatile in September follows more recent comments from the Admiral that North Korea is “the greatest threat that I face on a day-to-day basis”. In the letter, Xi said that China cherishes its relations with the North and pursues “close communication, deepened co-operation, and long-term, healthy and stable bilateral relations”.

The Workers’ Party of Korea is the political party that governs and runs North Korea.

The military parade that will kick off celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the creation of North Korea’s ruling party has been delayed.

Nuclear weapons analysts say if North Korea’s nuclear weapons development program continues unabated, its nuclear arsenal could expand from 10 to 16 nuclear weapons, to between 20 and 100 in the next five years. “This seemed like quite a concession on the part of the North Koreans after several years of giving them the cold shoulder”. North Korea is under United Nations sanctions for its nuclear tests and missile launches.

The high-profile Chinese delegation – which also included a senior member of China’s People’s Liberation Army – appeared to have paid initial dividends.

The UNHA-3 satellite launch by North Korea on December 12, 2012 might not pay off the ulterior motives of North Korea, if there are any.