North Korea holds Workers’ Party anniversary parade

North Korea holds a large-scale military parade, marking the 70th anniversary of the formation of the ruling Workers’ Party.

The event was held Saturday at the capital Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square, which bears the name of the current leader Kim Jong Un's grandfather and the founder of the nation.

Kim kicked off the anniversary in the early hours of the day by paying respect to his late father Kim Jong-il and grandfather, the country’s previous heads of state, at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in the capital.

The event featured a march staged by soldiers, tanks, and military hardware, including long-range missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The parade was preceded by a keynote speech by the Korean leader, where he credited “the line of Songun (military-first) politics” for turning the country into “an impenetrable fortress and a global military power."

Kim also employed his characteristic rhetoric against the United States, saying, "Our revolutionary force is ready to respond to any kind of war the American imperialists want."

The country has come under sanctions by the United States and the United Nations for its nuclear weapons and rocket programs.

Last month, North Korea said the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, the country’s major nuclear facility, which is situated in its east, is in full operation and that Pyongyang is working to improve its nuclear weapons “in quality and quantity.” The announcement raised fears of a possible fourth nuclear test by the country.

“We are ready to protect our people and the blue sky of our motherland," Kim said during the 30-minute speech and asserted, "The Workers' Party of Korea is an invincible party which forms a coherent whole with the people."

Also attending the anniversary was senior Chinese Communist Party official Liu Yunshan, who arrived in the country on Friday bearing a message by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Kim and Liu held a meeting prior to the celebrations, where Liu emphasized that preserving stability and peace on the volatile Korean Peninsula is in the interest of all sides.

North and South Korea have remained technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Beijing was “willing to work with the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) to strive for early resumption of the six-party talks on the nuclear issue,” the Chinese official said at the meeting.

The six-party negotiations, which included Russia, China, the United States, Japan, South Korea and North Korea, were aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, stalled in April 2009 after the United Nations imposed tougher sanctions on Pyongyang for conducting nuclear and missile tests.

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