North Korea pledged to strengthen its military as it celebrated the 60th birthday of its ruling Workers Party, state media reported Monday, amid speculation that leader Kim Jong-Il could soon anoint a successor.
Kim waved to a cheering crowd at a military parade featuring thousands of soldiers and cadets in central Pyongyang on Monday, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, which monitors North Korea's state-run central television.
"If US and Japanese imperialists and their followers should trigger war on this land, we will deal a merciless blow to the invaders and achieve the reunification of the fatherland," Kim Il Chol, minister of the People's Armed Forces, said before the parade.
"We will, with our lives, ... protect the revolutionary leadership led by comrade Kim Jong-Il," the minister said. In a congratulatory message to Kim on Monday, Chinese President Hu Jintao vowed to deepen ties with Pyongyang, saying he wanted to take bilateral co-operation to "a new high", Xinhua news agency reported.
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