North Korea talks tough on armistice anniversary

North Korean officials warned the United States that another war on the Korean Peninsula would leave no Americans alive to sign a surrender document as the country marked the anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War more than six decades ago.

Pyongyang and other cities around North Korea were decked out with flags and banners as North Koreans flocked to patriotic gatherings and mass dance celebrations to mark the anniversary of the July 27, 1953, agreement that brought the three-year Korean war to an end with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

North Korean officials took the opportunity of the anniversary to step up their anti-US rhetoric and call upon the nation to redouble its devotion to the nation’s current leader, Kim Jong Un, the third leader in the Kim dynasty, and prepare for a final showdown with Washington. The anniversary is hailed in North Korea as a victory over the US, which fought with the South Koreans and other allies against the North’s forces, who were supported by China and the Soviet Union.