N Korea says will answer all-out war with all-out war

Some 56 missiles were displayed on Pyongyang’s streets to celebrate Kim Il-Sung’s birthday

PYONGYANG: North Korea announced on Saturday that it could beat down enemies with the power of nuclear justice and in a veiled reference warned the United States that it was prepared to respond to an all-out war with an all-out war.

The nuclear armed country rolled out its weapons of war through Pyongyang streets as it promised ‘nuclear justice’ in response to any atomic attack as leader Kim Jong-Un mounted a spectacular show of strength.

Tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions are stretched to the limit, with US President Donald Trump deploying an aircraft carrier battle group to the region.


After a 21-gun salute, tens of thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen goose-stepped through Kim Il-Sung Square turning their eyes towards the high balcony from where Kim watched, flanked by officers and officials.

Some detachments carried assault rifles or rocket-propelled grenades, others were equipped with night-vision goggles and daubed in face paint. One troupe was made up of sword-wielding women.

Tanks came next through the square -- named after Kim's grandfather, the North's founder -- followed by the objects of world concern.

A total of 56 missiles of 10 different types were displayed, culminating in enormous rockets on articulated trailers and on 16-wheeler vehicles.

The nuclear-armed North is under United Nations sanctions over its weapons programmes, and has ambitions to build a rocket capable of delivering a warhead to the US mainland -- something Trump has vowed ‘won't happen’.

Saturday's event was to mark the 105th anniversary of Kim Il-Sung's birth -- a date known as the ‘Day of the Sun’ in the North -- and a squadron of warplanes flew overhead forming the number.



But it was also intended to send an unmistakable message to Washington about the isolated country's military might.

Kim's close aide Choe Ryong-Hae declared that the North was a ‘powerful nuclear-armed state in the Orient and Asia's leader in rocketry’.

It could "beat down enemies with the power of nuclear justice", he said, and was ‘prepared to respond to an all-out war with an all-out war’.

"We are ready to hit back with nuclear attacks of our own style against any nuclear attacks," he said.

The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty and Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against a possible US invasion.

It has carried out five nuclear tests -- two of them last year -- and multiple missile launches, one of which saw several rockets come down in waters provocatively close to Japan last month.



Speculation that it could conduct a sixth blast in the coming days to coincide with the anniversary has reached fever pitch, with specialist US website 38North describing its Punggye-ri test site as ‘primed and ready’ and White House officials saying military options were ‘already being assessed’.

After dispatching the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and an accompanying battle group to the Korean peninsula Trump told the Fox Network: "We are sending an armada."

"He is doing the wrong thing," he added of Kim. "He's making a big mistake."

China, the North's sole major ally, and Russia have both urged restraint, with Beijing's Foreign Minister Wang Yi warning on Friday that ‘conflict could break out at any moment’