North Korea Holds Military Parade To Mark Party's 70th Anniversary

PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA - OCT. 10: North Korea on Saturday staged a huge military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party, as the international community is closely watching if it will further ratchet up tensions or adopt a more conciliatory approach hereafter. The major military parade, the first since July 2013, featuring a stream of goose-stepping soldiers, columns of tanks and a range of armaments, took place in Kim Il Sung Square in the heart of Pyongyang after being delayed by heavy rain overnight. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, along with senior government officials, reviewed the parade from a balcony overlooking the square named after his grandfather. Liu Yunshan, the Chinese Communist Party's fifth-ranked leader, stood next to him. Kim delivered a rare public speech on the occasion, in which he said the North is "ready to fight any kind of war waged by the U.S." and has taken all preparations to desperately defend its people. Among the military hardware paraded Saturday was believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile, while rockets with miniaturized, diversified nuke warheads were also showcased, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. But a submarine-launched ballistic missile tested in May was not made public, it said. Still, North Korea has said it has the legitimate right, just as with other countries, to launch a rocket and develop nuclear technology.