N. Korea boasts of nuke capabilities at mass rally

SEOUL, June 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korea boasted of its nuclear capabilities at a mass rally held on Sunday to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the Korean War, stressing its status as a nuclear power state against U.S. threats.

"DPRK is truly a nuclear power and we are ready to take down on those that do nothing but make nuclear threats using their nuclear deterrence," Cha Hui-rim, chairman of the Pyongyang City People's Committee was quoted by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying. DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

His remark came amid a mass rally staged at Kim Il-sung Square to mark the anniversary of the inter-Korean war. The two countries are technically still at war after the 1950-53 war ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Accusing the U.S. of starting the war against the North in 1950, he said that the North will "annihilate all invaders by the dint of single-minded unity" if it attacks the North again, and will use "all military force to achieve all military force and single-minded unity to achieve national reunification."

Among the ranking officials that attended the rally were Kim Ki-nam, the North's propaganda chief, and former Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong, according to the KCNA.

Every year, Pyongyang bolsters anti-American propaganda on its people for a month starting from June 25, the day when the Korean War broke out.
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