North Korea: Only way to solve crisis is if US kneels and apologises

The only way to solve the Korean peninsula crisis is for the US to kneel and apologise to North Korean army and public, said Pyongyang. The hermit kingdom marks the 64th anniversary of the armistice with the southern neighbour on Thursday, 27 July.

The day marked the end of lengthy 1950-53 Korean War, and Pyongyang commemorates the occasion as a victory day. As the conflict did not end in a peace deal and only an armistice agreement came into force, the rival Koreas are still technically at a state of war.

Pyongyang's main newspaper Rodong Sinmun carried a scathing editorial to heap scorn on the US. It said the only way to ease the tensions in the region is if Washington scales down its "hostile policies".

"There is only one way out for the US. That is to withdraw the anachronistic hostile policy toward North Korea and kneel and apologise to its army and people," read the dispatch. Simultaneously, the North Korean mouthpiece carried another editorial urging the North Koreans to brace for more tensions as the US is unlikely to back from its aggressive posture.

There was speculation that the North may launch a missile to mark the occasion as it is usually the case with any key anniversary. However, South Korean authorities have clarified earlier on Thursday, 27 July, that Pyongyang may not test-fire a projectile this time despite heavy movement of vehicles at a test site.

"Currently, there's no sign of an imminent North Korean missile launch. Our military is continuing to closely monitor North Korea's every possible provocation, mobilising combined surveillance assets with the United States," South Korea's Army Colonel Roh Jae-cheon, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.