North Korea show of strength as USA tensions rise

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"I don't know if this sends a message", President Donald Trump said that day, hinting that Washington could drop the same bomb on North Korea.

The Americans are alarmed by the North's efforts to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that could deliver a nuclear payload to the continental U.S. "Now we are comparing Trump's policy toward the DPRK with the former administration's, and we have concluded that it's becoming more vicious and more aggressive".

"We're prepared to respond to an all-out war with an all-out war", said Choe Ryong-hae, believed to be the country's second most powerful official. Amid rising regional tensions, Pyongyang residents have been preparing for. But it is doubtful that the North is now able to build reliable, survivable warheads for an intercontinental ballistic missile that can strike the U.S. Mainland, he said. The parade is still now ongoing, so I will have more details later. "At a time and at a place where the headquarters deems necessary, it will take place".

North Korea has conducted several missile tests, and at least five nuclear tests since 2006 - the last two previous year.

For outside military analysts, though, the highlight is the weaponry that the North puts on display.

Soldiers carried out on trucks North Korea's "Pukguksong" missile, which can be fired from a submarine.

Kishida noted that more events are expected in North Korea later in April, and said "there is a possibility that the country may take action on those occasions". On the other hand, this may suggest that Pyongyang will not act unless the USA attacks first.

As for the Trump administration's policy, the USA officials emphasized that no engagement of North Korea is now taking place. The official said it wasn't immediately clear what Kim Won Hong's current role was with North Korea's government.

"We will die for you", they yelled.

Its missiles can reach South Korea, Japan and Guam.

The official, who wasn't authorized to be quoted by name and demanded anonymity, lamented Pyongyang's "far too common and far too dangerous" provocations, and said Washington would work with global partners to cut the North's government off "from the rest of the world".

But if the parade signalled a readiness for war, North Korea has long insisted that its goal is peace - and survival - with the growing arsenal a way to ensure that the government in Pyongyang is not easily overthrown.

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Han said US sanctions efforts are misguided and cited the opening ceremony of a sprawling new high-rise residential area in Pyongyang on Thursday as evidence that sanctions have failed to ruin the country's economy. Coal sales are an important source of revenue for Kim Jong Un's government, and the US says China has turned back some shipments in recent days.

Since taking power in late 2011, Kim Jong Un has executed or purged a slew of high-level government officials in what the South Korean government has described as a "reign of terror".

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

Mr Han Song said: "Whatever comes from the United States, we will cope with it".

How much such comments are bluster, or how realistic they are, is hard to gauge.

On Friday, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that "conflict could break out at any moment", adding that if war occurred there could be no victor.

"Air China did not stop operation of the Beijing to Pyongyang route, but temporarily cancelled some flights based on the situation of ticket sales", a person in Air China's communications team said on Friday.

"Once a war really happens, the result will be nothing but multiple-loss". "He's making a big mistake".

North Korea, on the other hand, only seems to be strengthening its commitment to nuclear development.

Fears over the North's rogue weapons programme have soared in recent days, with a United States naval strike force deployed near the Korean peninsula, while President Donald Trump has warned the threat "will be taken care of" and Pyongyang has vowed a "merciless" response to any provocation.

Even without nuclear weapons, the North could cause severe damage with its conventional artillery batteries aimed at the South Korean capital of Seoul. That attack alarmed the North and was condemned as "unpardonable" by Pyongyang, which counts Syria as an ally.

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