By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press Writer Kwang-tae Kim, Associated Press Writer – 47 mins ago

SEOUL, South Korea — Punching their fists into the air and shouting "Let's crush them!" some 100,000 North Koreans packed Pyongyang's main square Thursday for an anti-U.S. rally as the communist regime promised a "fire shower of nuclear retaliation" for any American-led attack.

Several demonstrators held up a placard depicting a pair of hands smashing a missile with "U.S." written on it, according to footage taken by APTN in Pyongyang on the anniversary of the day North Korean troops charged southward, sparking the three-year Korean War in 1950.

North Korean troops will respond to any sanctions or U.S. provocations with "an annihilating blow," one senior official vowed — a pointed threat as an American destroyer shadowed a North Korean freighter sailing off China's coast, possibly with banned goods on board.

A new U.N. Security Council resolution passed recently to punish North Korea for conducting an underground nuclear test in May requires U.N. member states to request inspections of ships suspected of carrying arms or nuclear weapons-related material.

In response to the sanctions, the North pulled out of nuclear talks and has ramped up already strident anti-American rhetoric. And the isolated regime may now be moving to openly flout the resolution by dispatching a ship suspected of carrying arms to Myanmar.

While it was not clear what was on board the North Korean-flagged Kang Nam 1, officials have mentioned artillery and other conventional weaponry. One intelligence expert suspected missiles.

The U.S. and its allies have made no decision on whether to request inspection of the ship, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday in Washington, but North Korea has said it would consider any interception an act of war.

If permission for inspection is refused, the ship must dock at a port of its choosing so local authorities can check its cargo. Vessels suspected of carrying banned goods must not be offered bunkering services at port, such as fuel, the resolution says.

A senior U.S. defense official said the ship had cleared the Taiwan Strait. He said he didn't know whether or when the Kang Nam may need to stop in some port to refuel, but that the Kang Nam has in the past stopped in Hong Kong's port.

Another U.S. defense official said he tended to doubt reports that the Kang Nam was carrying nuclear-related equipment, saying information seems to indicate the cargo is banned conventional munitions. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity in order to talk about intelligence.

North Korea is suspected to have transported banned goods to Myanmar before on the Kang Nam, said Bertil Lintner, a Bangkok-based North Korea expert who has written a book about leader Kim Jong Il.

Pyongyang also has been helping the junta in Yangon build up its weapons arsenal, a South Korean intelligence expert said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The two countries have not always been on good terms. Ties were severed in 1983 after a fatal bombing during the South Korean president's visit to Myanmar blamed on North Korean commandoes.

They held secret talks in Bangkok in the 1990s to discuss the lone survivor among the three North Korean commandos involved in the bombing, and since have forged close relations.

The two regimes, among Asia's most repressive, restored diplomatic ties in 2007. Not long after that, in April 2007, the Kang Nam docked at Thilawa port saying it needed shelter from bad weather.

But one expert said reports show the weather was clear then, and two local journalists working for a foreign news agency who went to write about the unusual docking were arrested.

"The Kang Nam unloaded a lot of heavy equipment in 2007," Lintner said. "Obviously, the ship was carrying something very sensitive at that time as well."

North Korea has also helped Myanmar dig tunnels in recent years, said Lintner, adding that the cash-strapped North may have received rice, rubber and minerals in return for its military and other assistance.

"North Korea appears to have exported conventional weapons to Myanmar in exchange for food," another expert said.

Pyongyang is believed to have transported digging equipment to Myanmar, which is seeking to make its new capital a fortress with vast underground facilities, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.

North Korea has been locked in a tense standoff with Washington and other regional powers over its nuclear program. In April, the regime launched a rocket widely seen as a cover for a test of long-range missile technology — a move that drew U.N. Security Council condemnation.

The North responded by abandoning six-nation disarmament talks and threatening to carry out nuclear tests and fire intercontinental ballistic missiles. The North is believed to be developing a long-range missile designed to strike the U.S. but experts say it has not figured out how to mount a bomb onto the missile.

On Thursday, Pyongyang vowed to enlarge its atomic arsenal and warned of a "fire shower of nuclear retaliation" if provoked by the U.S.

North Korea's "armed forces will deal an annihilating blow that is unpredictable and unavoidable, to any 'sanctions' or provocations by the US," Pak Pyong Jong, first vice chairman of the Pyongyang City People's Committee, told the crowd gathered for the Korean War anniversary rally.

In Seoul, some 5,000 people — mostly American and South Korean veterans and war widows — also commemorated the anniversary at a ceremony.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said the nation is prepared to counter any type of threat or provocation.

"The South Korean government is firmly determined to defend the lives and wealth of its people and will do its utmost to find the remains of troops killed in the Korean War," he said at the ceremony.

The two Koreas technically remain in a state of war because the conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty

"We'll all be good and crispy,But we'll still be Number One."...Them And Us by Don Henley. be seeing you

....... what to say?

F-ing CRAZY! So many things are so illogical and absolutely insane about this man and his followers. Scared for my children and their future... I've been following this for a while now, and there's nothing worse than somebody who's willing to not only destroy others, but his own people and country. May God help us.

we are so not #1

if we get involved so wil china, ill just mive to canada, its cleaner there anyway

They better not mess with Obama. After all, he is the Anti-Christ.

I say we nuke NKorea preemtively and target all of their military bases, emplacements, and capital, leave the harbors and invade them the hard way. What is China going to do about it? Whine? Cry? Call us names? They and the Russians will not do SH*T about it because they know NKorea had it coming.

Better yet use Neutron Bombs to be environmentally conscious! Their radiation only pollutes for two weeks. Nkorea ain't sh*t! I feel sorry for the Korean civilians in general though. They are the one a hand full of men's madness is affecting. They know if they launch anything at us the retaliation would be awesome and South Korea would be an island!

Bunch of F*ckn' chimps...


I got something for Kim Jong Ill ! I wish I could shove one up his....

and...


...pushing the button to see....


I am having technical difficulties at the moment...


I...

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP...

Thats right. He has the super powers to protect us

he is not smart enough to be the antichrist..

...and the Beast (anti-Christ) shall come from the sea and earth (Hawaii) and his number shall be 666 (Chicago zip code 60606) and he shall rain down fire on Gog and Magog (Korea & China)....

almost sounds as if korea wants us to prevoke them and start a war

PUSH THE BUTTON!!!


DAMN IT, HE GOT FREE AGAIN!!!

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP...

They want food because they are starving.They have been doing this for years.

KRISPY KOREANS!


NUKE NUKE NUKE NUKE!!!!

N Korea is panicking

usually when they say that we fork over 20 or 30 million dollars and a few shiploads of wheat

it ain't happenin this time

and China is fed up with em and are not backing them like they expected em to

China thinks war is bad for business and 21st century China is all about the business

I think you are exactly right. They keep playing this game and now the President said we aren't playing it anymore. They behave badly and we send them rewards....no more.

I also think that "Fear of USA attack" is the tactic that North Korea has used to control their people for decades.

I kinda feel sorry for those people since they are starving so badly they have even had to resort to cannibalism. This missile threat is all N.K. has because they sure couldnt even mobilize their army without food. Food is the main thing you need for an army. They dont have the capability of hitting the U.S. with any missile

Wow Mirror....I had to go do a little research about your canabalism comments and sure as heck it's TRUE! There were even reports of how they dug up fresh graves and were eating babies!

One would think that if things got that bad they would revolt against the government. I suppose they don't know any better since they have no communication with the outside world.

If they only knew how GREAT life could be.

Maybe he is pretending to be not smart enough cause he is so smart that if we knew how smart he really was, we would know that he must be the .....

I served a year in South Korea, believe me, they could handle the North with no help from us. Time for them to take charge of the situation if you ask me. Our soldiers are still there? Bring them home and tell KIA motors to fund the defense of its own country. Anyone ever notice the KIA acronym? Killed In Action...now we import almost a million of their cars here and are allowed to export less than 10,000. wtf.