NORTH KOREA has displayed what appears to be new long-range and submarine-based missiles on the 105th anniversary of the birth of its founding father, Kim Il Sung, as a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier group steamed towards the region.

A US attack on a Syrian airfield this month raised questions about President Donald Trump’s plans for reclusive North Korea, which has conducted several missile and nuclear tests in defiance of UN and unilateral sanctions. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Kim Il Sung’s grandson, looked relaxed in a dark suit and laughing with aides as he oversaw the huge parade on the “Day of the Sun” at Pyongyang’s main Kim Il Sung Square.

Goose-stepping soldiers and marching bands filled the square, next to the Taedonggang River that flows through Pyongyang, in the hazy spring sunshine, followed by tanks, multiple launch rocket systems and other weapons. The North has said it has developed and would launch a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believe such a threat is some time away.

Weapons analysts said they believed some of the missiles on display at the military parade were new types of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). It suggests Pyongyang has been working towards a “new concept” of ICBM, said Melissa Hanham, a senior research associate at the US-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California.

“However, North Korea has a habit of showing off new concepts in parades before they ever test or launch them,” Hanham said. “It is still early days for these missile designs”.

North Korea has on occasion conducted missile or nuclear tests to coincide with big political events and often threatens the United States, South Korea and Japan.

On Saturday it warned the United States that any provocation would be met with retaliation.

“All the brigandish provocative moves of the US in the political, economic and military fields pursuant to its hostile policy toward the DPRK will thoroughly be foiled through the toughest counteraction of the army and people of the DPRK,” the North’s KCNA state news agency said.

DPRK stands for the official name of North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

KCNA said the Trump administration’s “serious military hysteria” had reached a “dangerous phase which can no longer be overlooked”.

North Korea’s Pukkuksong submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) were also on parade for the first time.

Displaying more than one of the missiles indicates North Korea is progressing with its plan to base a missile on a submarine, which are hard to detect, said Joshua Pollack, editor of the Washington-based Nonproliferation Review.

It suggests a commitment to this program,” said Pollack. “Multiple SLBMs seems like a declaration of intent to advance the program”. Choe Ryong Hae, a close aide to Kim, addressed the packed square and reiterated the warning to the United States.

“If the United States wages reckless provocation against us, our revolutionary power will instantly counter with annihilating strike, and we will respond to full out war with full out war and to nuclear war with our style of nuclear strike warfare,” he said.

North Korea’s Pukkuksong submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) were also on parade for the first time.

Displaying more than one of the missiles indicates North Korea is progressing with its plan to base a missile on a submarine, which are hard to detect, said Joshua Pollack, editor of the Washington-based Nonproliferation Review.

It suggests a commitment to this program,” said Pollack. “Multiple SLBMs seems like a declaration of intent to advance the program”. Choe Ryong Hae, a close aide to Kim, addressed the packed square and reiterated the warning to the United States.

“If the United States wages reckless provocation against us, our revolutionary power will instantly counter with annihilating strike, and we will respond to full out war with full out war and to nuclear war with our style of nuclear strike warfare,” he said.

“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,” the country’s number two official Choe Ryong-Hae said in a speech at a ceremony before a large military parade started, which was broadcast live by the North’s Korean Central TV.

The parade may also feature some of the country’s most valuable military hardware, such as its prototype intercontinental ballistic missiles.

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

The country under his watch has been aggressively pursuing a goal of putting a nuclear warhead on an ICBM capable of reaching the continental United States.

U.S. satellite imagery suggests the country could conduct another underground nuclear test at any time. North Korea conducted two of such tests last year alone, which analysts say would have taken the country a step forward in gaining the knowledge to make nuclear weapons small enough to fit on long-range missiles.

N. KOREA VOWS ‘THERMONUCLEAR WAR’

North Korea has accused Donald Trump of “troublemaking” with “provocative” tweets and warned “thermonuclear war may break out any moment”.

The Sun reports that Pyongyang’s Vice Minister Han Song Ryol warned Mr Trump against provoking North Korea militarily and that “we will go to war if they choose.”

It came as Press TV reported that Japan is finalising plans to evacuate 60,000 of its citizens from South Korea if war does break out.

China’s national airline, Air China, cancelled some flights to the North Korean capital, but denied it had stopped flights completely.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV had reported that all flights run by the airline between the two cities were to be suspended indefinitely.

“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.

Russia has also called for restraint from all countries.

Mr Trump has deployed an aircraft carrier to the Korean peninsula and claims he is ready to deal with the Korean “problem”.

Mr Han Song said: “Whatever comes from the US, we will cope with it. We are fully prepared to handle it.

“If the US comes with reckless military manoeuvres, then we will confront it with the DPRK’s pre-emptive strike.

“We’ve got a powerful nuclear deterrent already in our hands and we certainly will not keep our arms crossed in the face of a US pre-emptive strike.”

The country’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“It is not the DPRK but the US and Trump that makes problems,” he said. “I say this because Trump tweeted that the DPRK, North Korea, is looking for trouble and it’s none other than the US that is posing threats toward the DPRK with the largest scale ever military exercises (with South Korea) and the nuclear aircraft carrier Carl Vinson which was bound for Australia is now coming back to the Korean Peninsula.

“Trump is always making provocations with his aggressive words. We will go to war if they choose.” he said. “As long as the nuclear threats and blackmail go on with the military exercises we will carry forward with our national defence build-up, the core of which is the nuclear arms build-up.

“As for the nuclear test, that is something that our headquarters decides. At a time and at a place where the headquarters deems necessary, it will take place,” he said. “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.”

“Whatever comes from US politicians, if their words are designed to overthrow the DPRK system and government, we will categorically reject them.”

Yesterday it was reported Mr Trump is prepared to launch a pre-emptive strike against North Korea should it dare test any more nuclear weapons.

Senior US intelligence sources claimed Kim Jong-un is in the final stages of preparing for his sixth nuclear test — with Mr Trump warning that he will not hesitate to respond if it reaches for the trigger.

US government sources believe North Korea has placed a nuclear device in a tunnel and it could be detonated as early as this weekend.

But NBC reports should officials became convinced that North Korea is about to follow through with a nuke test the US will strike.

According to reports, two US Navy destroyers — capable of shooting Tomahawk cruise missiles in the region — are now just 300 miles from the North Korean nuclear test site.

American B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers are also positioned in Guam to pound targets.

And earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group was being diverted to the area.

Part of this article originally appeared in The Sun and is published here with permission