N Korean media celebrate 1953 'triumph'

Officials and civilians gathered to mark the ceremony

The North Korean media have celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Korean War truce as a "brilliant victory" for Pyongyang.

The country's state-controlled media carried reports of country-wide celebrations, but also used the occasion to warn the US against any moves towards war.

Pyongyang TV showed pictures of soldiers and civilians laying floral tributes at the foot of statues of North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung, who launched the 1950-53 Korean War.

The US is fanning the flames for a new Korean war Rodong Sinmun

The TV also carried pictures of officials laying wreaths and observing a moment's silence at Pyongyang's Friendship Tower, in memory of Chinese troops who died during the war.

The media were also careful to mark the "outstanding" achievements of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

The state-run news agency KCNA praised Kim's Songun policy, which gives the army the upper hand in running the country and in allocating all resources.

US 'defeat'

The media coverage was dominated, however, by sharp criticism of the US.

An article in the state-run newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, slammed the US for failing to "learn the lesson" of the 1953 Korean War.

If the US aggressor dares to unleash a war it will not be able to avoid the merciless crushing blow of the Korean army KCNA

"The US imperialists should not repeat the lesson of their disgraceful defeat," the paper cautioned.

Commenting on strained relations between Washington and Pyongyang, the paper accused the US of "intentionally making the situation tense and fanning the flames for a new Korean war".

It is only "a matter of time", the paper warned, before the US launches a "reckless" military operation against North Korea.

And it dismissed any peace overtures from Washington as simply a "screen" hiding the US's "intention to launch a pre-emptive strike".

Pyongyang's KCNA news agency warned the US that it would face a "merciless crushing blow" if it launched an attack on the North.

"They will suffer a miserable defeat dwarfing the one they met in the past Korean war," it said.

The anniversary was a colourful occasion

'Humiliation'

A commentary broadcast by North Korean radio viewed the remembrance service taking place on the southern side of the Demilitarised Zone and questioned why the US should be marking the anniversary at all.

"There is no reason for the United States to commemorate the Korean Armistice Agreement", the radio said in a broadcast to the South.

By marking the event, it said, Washington would "only revive a sense of humiliation".

The radio described the ceremony commemorating the war dead from the UN side as a "farce".

And it urged the US to instead "reflect on its past 50 years of crimes" which it said had turned the armistice agreement into "a blank sheet of paper".

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.