Pyongyang
(AFP) --- North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said he was ready for war with
the United States
as the nuclear-armed nation celebrated its ruling party's 70th birthday
Saturday with a spectacular, mass military parade.
Tens of thousands
of troops, followed by waves of tanks, armoured vehicles and ballistic
missiles, goose-stepped their way through Pyongyang's
Kim Il-Sung Square
in one of the largest ceremonial displays of military muscle the country had
ever organised.
In his first public
speech for three years, Kim struck a far more belligerent tone than in previous
addresses, with a special message for the North's traditional enemy.
"Our party dauntlessly
declares that our revolutionary armed forces are capable of fighting any kind
of war provoked by the US,"
the young leader proclaimed to rapturous applause from thousands of top
military officers and party officials assembled below his viewing platform.
The cheers were
echoed by tens of thousands of flag and flower-waving participants gathered in
the square named after Kim's grandfather, over which a large banner slung from
a gas-filled balloon read: "Long live the invincible Workers' Party of Korea."
North Korean
threats to wipe out the US
and neighbouring South Korea
are common-place, but this was a particularly pointed message of defiance,
given in the most public of forums before the cameras of the invited
international media.
-- Holding hands with
China
--
Kim also seized
what amounted to a rare photo opportunity to underline his country's
traditional alliance with China,
which has shows signs of strain since he took power following the death of his
father, Kim Jong-Il, in 2011.
China had sent
one of its top officials, politburo standing committee member Liu Yunshan, to
the parade, and when Kim saluted the crowds at the end, he did so with Liu --
their hands raised and joined together.
China remains North
Korea's main diplomatic protector and economic partner,
but relations have soured in recent years with Beijing
becoming increasing wary of Pyongyang's
nuclear ambitions.
Saturday's parade
had been expected to start in the morning, but heavy overnight rain and
overcast skies saw it delayed until 3:00pm (0630 GMT) when the weather broke in
a blaze of sunshine and blue skies.
After Kim's
20-minute speech, the vast march-past began, headed by floats carrying the
smiling images of his grandfather and father.
The overriding theme
of the parade was the glorification of the ruling Workers' Party that has
served at the whim of the three generations of the Kim family for the last
seven decades.
-- Missiles, or
mock-ups? --
After the
hard-marching troops and massed bands came the military hardware -- always a
focus of attention for foreign observers looking for evidence of any forward
technological step in the North's military arsenal.
The display
included long-range ballistic missiles the North has shown off at two previous
parades in 2012 and 2013, each time triggering debate over whether they were
working models or -- as more widely believed -- mere mock-ups.
The official
commentary on state television, suggested the missiles -- known as KN-08s --
were "powerful tactical rockets loaded with diversified and miniaturised
nuclear warheads."
North Korea has
conducted three nuclear tests and threatened a fourth as part of a nuclear
weapons and missile programme that it has pursued through a barrage of
international sanctions.
The country has long claimed it has
technology capable of launching nuclear bombs at its distant enemies, but
experts are sceptical whether it has acquired the sophisticated expertise
needed to produce such weapons.
An exhaustively
researched report published this week by the US-based Institute for Science and
International Security estimated that North Korea had between 10 and 16
nuclear bombs as of the end of 2014.
The report argued
it was likely the country could already build a warhead to fit atop a Nodong
missile -- with a range of less than 800 miles (1,300 kilometres) -- but
questioned the weapon's reliability.
-- Pyongyang facelift --
Months of planning
and preparation have gone into Saturday's celebrations, involving a mass
mobilisation of state personnel and resources to ensure its success.
The capital was
given a comprehensive makeover -- its streets lined and decorated with giant
posters, red banners and national flags, many of them displaying the numerals
"10-10" in reference to the ruling party's official October 10
birthday.
At the height of
the parade, a squadron of antique, Soviet-made biplanes flew over the parade
ground in formation, outlining the numerals "70" in another nod to
the anniversary.
The North excels at
choreographed displays of military muscle, but such events also highlight its
diplomatic isolation.
China's Liu was
the only foreign dignitary of standing at Saturday's spectacle.
Minutes after the
parade ended, the square was drenched in a heavy downpour which dampened the
next event -- a torchlight procession by hundreds of thousands of students.