North Korea was quiet militarily at midday Thursday as it and South Korea marked the 64th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
South Korean officials said there is no sign of an imminent missile launch. Still, government and defense officials in the region continued to be on high alert over a possible saber-rattling by North Korea around the commemoration, following recent satellite-based information showing that it may be preparing for another ballistic missile test.
In celebrating the anniversary of what North Korea calls "victory" day, the country's leading newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, threatened the United States again with "a pre-emptive nuclear strike" if it tries to undermine "our dignity and the right to live."
"No matter how desperately the United States may try, it can never evade its final ruin already sealed," the paper said in a commentary. "There is the only way out for the United States. That is to withdraw the anachronistic hostile policy toward (North Korea) and kneel and apologize before its army and people."
The armistice signed July 27, 1953 ended open fighting, but a formal peace treaty has never been in place, leaving the Korean Peninsula in a technical state of war, divided at the 38th Parallel, now one of the world's most heavily militarized borders.
North Korea, claiming it won in what it calls "the Fatherland Liberation War" against the U.S.-led U.N. and South Korean forces, has long demanded a security guarantee from Washington.
Despite being faced with multiple sanctions by the international community, North Korea has shown no signs of abandoning its ambition to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of traveling as far as to the U.S. mainland.
North Korea conducted its first test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile on July 4, coinciding with U.S. Independence Day.
Speculation is rife that North Korea will launch more long-range missiles in the months ahead, as leader Kim Jong Un, who celebrated the first test with scientists at that time, was quoted as urging them to "frequently send big and small gift packages" to the United States.
On the occasion of the armistice anniversary, U.S. President Donald Trump released a statement remembering soldiers who fought in the war and renewed his pledge to defend national security and Washington's allies abroad.
"While the armistice stopped the active fighting in the region, North Korea's ballistic and nuclear weapons programs continue to pose grave threats to the United States and our allies and partners," Trump said.
South Korea's government, which this month proposed to reopen military talks with North Korea to defuse tensions along their heavily militarized border, held a memorial ceremony for the armistice.
In his speech at the event in Seoul, Prime Minister Lee Nak Yon said the new South Korean government will work closely with the international community and try to convince North Korea to choose the way of peace.
Despite the administration of South Korean President Moon Jae In's repeated calls on North Korea to return to the negotiating table, Pyongyang has given no response to Seoul's most recent overtures.