North Korea Decides Against Starting World War III, At Least Today

North Korea displayed new missiles during a military parade to celebrate the 105th birthday anniversary of Kim Il Sung on Saturday.

Missiles appeared to be the main theme of a giant military parade, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un taking a time to greet the commander of the Strategic Forces, the branch that oversees the missile arsenal.

"If they attempt a full-scale war, we will respond with a full-scale war", Choe Ryong Hae, a senior official in the ruling Workers' Party and a key aide to Kim, said in a speech before the parade, the Times reported.

American intelligence officials have reportedly said the United States is ready to launch a preemptive strike with conventional weapons against North Korea if it is sure Pyongyang is about to stage another nuclear weapons test.

North Korea is under United Nations sanctions over its weapons programs but has long wanted a rocket capable reaching the USA mainland.

North Korean soldiers also rolled out another large rocket that appeared to be the size of an ICBM, but what a South Korean military analyst said hasn't been seen before.

On Friday, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that "conflict could break out at any moment", adding that if war occurred there could be no victor.

"Trump is always making provocations with his aggressive words", Han Song Ryol said.

North Korea responded by warning of a "merciless retaliatory strike" if the US acts first.

Pyongyang has also expressed anger over the ongoing annual spring military exercises the USA holds with South Korea, which it considers a rehearsal for invasion.

Many outside analysts believe that North Korea has not yet mastered the technology to build warheads small enough to place on long-range missiles, though some civilian experts say North Korea can already build nuclear-tipped shorter range missiles that have South Korea and Japan within its striking range.

A USA naval strike force has been deployed near the Korean peninsula, and President Donald Trump has issued stark warnings that the threat posed by Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program "will be taken care of".

North Korean soldiers take part in a parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, Saturday, April 15, 2017.

According to AP, "The parade, an elaborate display of the state's vast power, involves tens of thousands of participants, from goose-stepping soldiers to crowds of civilians who have spent weeks perfecting their ability to wave plastic flowers in unison".

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

North Korea fired a medium-range missile Sunday from near its east coast port city of Sinpo, but it exploded about four or five seconds after the launch, according to a White House foreign policy adviser.

"If they infringe on the DPRK's sovereignty and dignity even a bit, its army will launch merciless ultra-precision strikes from ground, air, sea and underwater", North Korea said through its state-run news source.

Tens of thousands descended on the streets of the capital as the nation marks the 1912 birth of Kim Il Sung, grandfather of Kim Jong Un.

One of the debuts included the Pukkuksong-2 SLBM, a submarine-launched ballistic missile, loaded on trucks, according to Reuters.