N. Korea holds anti-American rally to mark war anniversary

SEOUL, June 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has held an anti-American rally for the third day in a row to mark the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War, with participants vowing to "mercilessly annihilate" the United States if it provokes the North, state media reported Sunday.

The North has held anti-U.S. rallies since Thursday to mark the war anniversary for the first time in five years. Pyongyang skipped such rallies in 2018 amid a thaw in relations with the United States and had not resumed them amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The speakers vehemently denounced the U.S. imperialists for provoking the Korean War to nip in the bud the young DPRK less than two years after its foundation and perpetrating the most hideous massacre and barbaric destruction unprecedented in the world war history," the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported.

"They stressed that if the U.S. imperialists dare provoke the DPRK again, oblivious of their bitter defeat in the 1950s, the latter will mercilessly annihilate the imperialists by mobilizing all the invincible physical means it has so far bolstered up," the KCNA said.

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

Saturday's rally was held in front of the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, which was established to commemorate what Pyongyang calls its victory in the Korean War.

The KCNA said the participants also called for bolstering "our politico-ideological strength and military edge in every way to prevent the grudge-filled history from repeating itself and to make any force be aware that it will have to pay dearly for attempting to infringe upon the security of our country."
(END)