North Korea holds major military parade, ups rhetoric against US

North Korea has held a major parade a day before the opening of the Winter Olympics in the South, in a clear warning to the United States that any act of invasion would be met with the toughest response possible.

State television broadcast recorded videos of the Thursday parade in Pyongyang’s Kim Il-sung Square, with leader of the country Kim Jong-un overseeing the extravagant event.

The parade was held after Kim accepted to dispatch a group of North Korean athletes to the Winter Olympics in the South.

He has also sent his sister, one of his senior advisers, to the games, and South Korean officials have said she would attend the kick-off ceremony Friday and then would have a luncheon with President Moon Jae-in.

Experts say Kim’s manner of dealing with the Winter Games is a sign he has become genuinely open to South Korea's rapprochement efforts.

However, Kim’s words during the Thursday parade showed that the same restraint toward the United States did not exist in principle. During the event, Kim called on the North Korean military to maintain a high level of combat readiness against the US and its allies and to prevent them from infringing upon “the republic's sacred dignity and autonomy even by 0.001 millimeters.”

Disputes between Washington and Pyongyang escalated last July when North Korea test-fired two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) that analysts say are capable of hitting targets in the US mainland. Then in August, Pyongyang carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, prompting Washington to engineer some unprecedented international sanctions on the country.

North Korea has warned the US that it would respond to the crippling sanctions in due course.

Showcasing new ballistic missile

During the Thursday parade, North Korea put onto display in its full glory the Hwasong-15 ICBM, which Pyongyang says is capable of delivering nuclear payloads to virtually every target across the United States.

At least four launchers of the newly-developed missile took part in a military parade which was held before the North Korean leader in the capital on Thursday.

Painted in the usual black hue, the giant missiles were accompanied by several Hwasong-14 missiles.

The new missile is said to have a maximum range of around 13,000 kilometers, a major improvement over its predecessor, which could hit targets 10,000 kilometers away.

Also on display was the Hwasong-12 mid-range missile that was fired over Japan twice last year.

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