Kim Jong Un declared Saturday that North Korea was ready to fight "any kind of war" waged by the United States, as he presided over a huge military parade in the center of Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party.
The highly orchestrated event - complete with goose-stepping soldiers, convoys of rocket launchers and missiles, and fighter jets roaring overhead - was the biggest such parade North Korea has ever held, part of Kim's efforts to bolster his leadership of the world's most closed and authoritarian state.
"We have stood up against the American imperialists, and we are ready for any kind of war against the United States," Kim said in a long speech before the parade, his first public address in three years.
"Our military's invincible spirit causes anxiety and fear to our enemies," said Kim.