North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared Saturday that his country is prepared to confront any threat emanating from the U.S., U.S. News reported. Kim spoke in a huge military parade in the capital city of Pyongyang during a celebration to mark 70 years since the ruling party was formed.
Thousands of troops participated in the parade in an event that saw the secretive communist state display its latest military hardware, from truck mounted missiles to drones. The event sought to display to whole world that the Kim dynasty was firmly in control of the North with a combat-ready military.
Planes flew overhead in formation during the parade above the Kim Il Sung Square in the country's capital, according to ABC News. Jin Moo Kim, a Korea Institute for Defense Analysis expert, said that Pyongyang unveiled a new rocket launcher, as well as the fearsome KN-08 missile, a ballistic missile that's estimated to hit targets up to 6,200 miles away (10,000 kilometers). Analysts say that Kim used the event to popularize his own stature, as well as that of the military and the party.
Kim walked on the red carpet dressed in black before saluting to the honor guard, according to Fox News. China, Pyongyang's closest ally, sent a top communist official, Liu Yunshan.
"Our revolutionary force is ready to respond to any kind of war the American imperialists want," Kim warned in a speech that was interrupted by the enthusiastic crowd severally.
"Through the line of Songun (military-first) politics, our Korean People's Army has become the strongest revolutionary force and our country has become an impenetrable fortress and a global military power," he added.
