SEOUL: North Korea on Monday marked its upcoming 60th anniversary with a threat to "mercilessly punish" any US attack, as international efforts to end Pyongyang's nuclear drive remained stalled.
"The whole People's Army soldiers and people will reinforce self-defence capabilities to cope with any aggressive ploy by the US imperialists," said a message from the communist state's cabinet on the eve of the anniversary.
"Should the enemies dare to ignite a war," the North "will mercilessly punish the invaders, mobilising all-powerful potential built up in the midst of the rainstorm of military-oriented revolution and achieve a final victory in an anti-US war."
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the message, read at a ceremony by the de facto head of state Kim Yong-Nam, was carried on state TV.
It said the North was mobilising its largest-ever number of troops and military hardware for an anniversary parade on Tuesday in Pyongyang.
It was not known whether leader Kim Jong-Il would appear. South Korea's spy agency on Sunday denied a local report that his health might be worsening.
The North tested an atomic weapon in October 2006 but reached a disarmament deal the following year.
But disarmament work has halted because of a dispute between the North and its negotiating partners about ways to verify the nuclear inventory it handed over last June.
The North has stopped disabling the plants which produced weapons-grade plutonium, and says it is taking initial steps towards restarting them.
Premier Kim Yong-Il told Monday's ceremony that tensions were rising on the peninsula due to antagonistic tactics by "US imperialists and their followers."
Pyongyang "will resolutely and mercilessly punish even the smallest behaviour of provocation that infringes upon the sovereignty and interests" of the state, he said.
The North's military numbers some 1.1 million but it relies on foreign aid to feed millions.
Media reports say the austere capital has been decorated with posters, flowers and colourful lights for this year's anniversary.
It is not known if the North will showcase any of its more modern missiles on Tuesday. It test-fired a Taepodong-1 long-range missile in 1998.
In July 2006 it test-fired seven missiles, including a more advanced Taepodong-2 which exploded soon after lift-off.
In the run-up to the anniversary, state media has intensified its praise for Kim Jong-Il, who officially came to power three years after his father Kim Il-Sung died in 1994.
After the defeat of Japanese colonisers in World War II, the Korean peninsula was divided into Soviet and US zones of influence.
North and South Korea came into being in 1948. Two years later Kim Il-Sung invaded the South, triggering a three-year war which killed millions and perpetuated the division. - AFP/de
"The whole People's Army soldiers and people will reinforce self-defence capabilities to cope with any aggressive ploy by the US imperialists," said a message from the communist state's cabinet on the eve of the anniversary.
"Should the enemies dare to ignite a war," the North "will mercilessly punish the invaders, mobilising all-powerful potential built up in the midst of the rainstorm of military-oriented revolution and achieve a final victory in an anti-US war."
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the message, read at a ceremony by the de facto head of state Kim Yong-Nam, was carried on state TV.
It said the North was mobilising its largest-ever number of troops and military hardware for an anniversary parade on Tuesday in Pyongyang.
It was not known whether leader Kim Jong-Il would appear. South Korea's spy agency on Sunday denied a local report that his health might be worsening.
The North tested an atomic weapon in October 2006 but reached a disarmament deal the following year.
But disarmament work has halted because of a dispute between the North and its negotiating partners about ways to verify the nuclear inventory it handed over last June.
The North has stopped disabling the plants which produced weapons-grade plutonium, and says it is taking initial steps towards restarting them.
Premier Kim Yong-Il told Monday's ceremony that tensions were rising on the peninsula due to antagonistic tactics by "US imperialists and their followers."
Pyongyang "will resolutely and mercilessly punish even the smallest behaviour of provocation that infringes upon the sovereignty and interests" of the state, he said.
The North's military numbers some 1.1 million but it relies on foreign aid to feed millions.
Media reports say the austere capital has been decorated with posters, flowers and colourful lights for this year's anniversary.
It is not known if the North will showcase any of its more modern missiles on Tuesday. It test-fired a Taepodong-1 long-range missile in 1998.
In July 2006 it test-fired seven missiles, including a more advanced Taepodong-2 which exploded soon after lift-off.
In the run-up to the anniversary, state media has intensified its praise for Kim Jong-Il, who officially came to power three years after his father Kim Il-Sung died in 1994.
After the defeat of Japanese colonisers in World War II, the Korean peninsula was divided into Soviet and US zones of influence.
North and South Korea came into being in 1948. Two years later Kim Il-Sung invaded the South, triggering a three-year war which killed millions and perpetuated the division. - AFP/de
