N. Korea boasts of 'impregnable fortress'

Kim Jong-il is rarely seen in public

PYONGYANG, North Korea -- The 70th anniversary of North Korea's people's army has prompted leader Kim Jong-il out to make a rare public appearance.

Kim didn't speak to the huge throng that watched the parade, but Defense Minister Kim Il-chol described the country as "an impregnable fortress."

The minister also told North Korea's 1.2 million army troops to deal "merciless blows" if U.S. or other forces put so much as a toe over the border.

The communist country has trumpeted this anniversary as one of the most important festivals to cheer the achievements of state founder Kim Il-sung, father of leader and supreme army commander Kim Jong-il.

As the climax to a 90-minute parade, Kim walked slowly along the raised dais, smiling and raising both hands above his head to wave at tens of thousands of assembled troops.

The huge crowd pledged their alliance to Kim, shouting: "May our comrade General Kim Jong-il live 10,000 years."

"This is such a rare appearance and a great honor," said one North Korean in the audience as thousands of colorful balloons were let loose and drifted skyward and a 21-gun salute boomed.

Kim Jong-il, dressed in a light brown Mao suit, became supreme commander in 1991.

'Merciless blows'

Defense Minister Kim Il-chol opened the celebrations, calling out to troops: "Let glory fall upon the Korean People's Army."

He said Kim Jong-il had turned the country -- officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) -- into "an impregnable fortress."

"If the U.S. imperialists and their followers invade the inviolable land, sea and sky of the DPRK even 0.001 mm despite its repeated warnings, the army and the people who hold the dignity and sovereignty of the country and nation as dear as their own lives will deal merciless blows at the invaders," the official KCNA news agency reported him as saying.

North Korea has the fourth-largest army in the world

The figure he gave, 0.001 mm, is a tiny fraction of one inch.

North Korea regards the United States, a close ally of South Korea, as its sworn enemy. There are around 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

They are backing up the 600,000-strong South Korean military on the southern side of the fortified Demilitarized Zone bisecting the peninsula.

U.S. President George W. Bush enraged Pyongyang earlier this year by branding it part of an "axis of evil" with Iraq and Iran and criticizing the North's human rights record.

But Bush said on a February visit to Seoul the United States had no intention of invading.

Fourth-largest army

Kim, 60, became chairman of the National Defense Commission in 1993. That is still his official title although he assumed control of the state and ruling communist party three years after his father died in 1994.

North Korea, which has the world's fourth-largest standing army, has put renewed emphasis on its "military-first" policy.

Elite troops goose-stepped past the podium where Kim Jong-il stood with many of North Korea's ruling elite and foreign visitors, including special Russian envoy Konstantin Pulikovsky.

At the head of the parade rolled a limousine carrying a flag with a portrait of Kim Il-sung, who ruled North Korea after the division of the peninsula following the 1950-53 Korean War until his death. Father and son are the focus of a personality cult.

Tourist attraction

Tens of thousands of civilians took part, marching into Kim Il-sung Square carrying colored squares of paper, which they held above their heads to form moving pictures.

Weaponry has not been displayed at the parades since 1992.

Thursday's military parade set the stage for a grand celebration of "Great Leader" Kim Il-sung set to start on Monday.

To try to give outsiders a rare glimpse into the hermit kingdom, North Korea was hoping to attract unprecedented numbers of foreign tourists to the April 29-June 29 "Arirang" festival to raise badly needed hard currency.

The Arirang festival, which overlaps with the World Cup soccer finals in South Korea and in Japan, marks the 90th birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung and the 70th anniversary of the KPA.