North Korea stages giant show of military strength

The United States has warned that a policy of "strategic patience" with North Korea is over.

That, however, did not stop a North Korean army official from warning the United States that any provocation would be met with retaliation.

South Korean military officials said they believe the object was a new type of ICBM.

But Kim Jong Un recently said his military was preparing for such a test, which could provoke a response from the nation's adversaries.

The parade comes amid rising tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world, after a week-long series of spats directed toward the USA, and a looming possibility of the nation's sixth nuclear test.

North Korea's military parade has been closely watched by outside experts to get a glimpse of the North's latest additions to its missile program and other new military equipment.

And the U.S. is ready to launch a preemptive strike against North Korea if they fear a nuclear weapons test is imminent, according to senior United States intelligence officials.

North Korea's last parade was held in October 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of the WPK's founding.

"We're prepared to respond to an all-out war with an all-out war and we are ready to hit back with nuclear attacks of our own style against any nuclear attacks", Choe said.

Kim Dong-yub, a military official-turned-analyst at Seoul's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said the canisters and trucks suggest that the North is developing technology to "cold launch" ICBMs, ejecting them from the canisters before they ignite.

Trump has dispatched the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and an accompanying battle group to the Korean peninsula.

North Korea has invoked similarly dire scenarios on previous occasions when tensions on the Korean peninsula have spiked, but Beijing's warnings have fuelled global concerns that the current situation is reaching tipping point. "He is doing the wrong thing", he said of Kim Jong-un. This would allow North Korea to prevent its limited number of ICBM-capable TELs from being damaged during launch and also make the missiles harder to detect after they're fired, he said.

Kim, a 30-something leader who took power in late 2011, emphasizes nuclear weapons as the foundation of his national defense strategy.

One of the debuts included the Pukkuksong-2 SLBM, a submarine-launched ballistic missile, loaded on trucks, according to Reuters.

Pyongyang has expressed anger over the annual spring military exercises the USA holds with South Korea, which it considers an invasion rehearsal.

North Korea warned the United States on Saturday to end its "military hysteria" or face retaliation as a U.S. aircraft carrier group steamed towards the region and the reclusive state marked the "Day of the Sun", the 105th birth anniversary of its founding father.

The festivities took place amid concerns that North Korea may be preparing for its sixth nuclear test or a major rocket launch, such as its first flight test of an ICBM.

Other senior officials joining Kim at the parade podium included Kim Won Hong, who the South Korean government had said earlier this year was sacked from his job as state security minister, presumably over corruption.

Then came the tanks, rockets and missiles, including what appeared to be several types of never-before-seen long-range missiles.