Thousands of troops marched in elaborate formations across Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square In an incredible and rare show of strength and celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party.
Kim watched the extravaganza from a viewing platform and gave a rare live televised speech. Last year, Kim didn't show himself during a mysterious absence that lasted over a month.
"Our party can confidently state that our revolutionary armament today can deal with any kind of war U.S. imperialists ask for, and we are fully ready to persistently defend the country's blue sky and the well-being of the people," he told the gathered crowds.
North Korea's regime is fond of saber rattling and has made plenty of threats before. Intimidating words about the United States and South Korea have been very common in recent years.
Foreign diplomats, journalists and tourists gathered in Pyongyang for the spectacle, which saw fighter jets flying in a "70" formation.
A Chinese delegation led by Liu Yunshan, who is one of the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, met Kim and delivered a message from President Xi Jinping, according to North Korean state media KCNA.
The preparations for the Workers' Party of Korea anniversary appear to have begun as early as May, when satellite images captured approximately 45 tents assembled at a former Pyongyang airbase, according to an analysis posted on website 38 North.
By October, that area had swelled to about 800 tents, 700 trucks and 200 armored vehicles, with people appearing to move in formations "possibly in preparation for the parade," wrote Joseph Bermudez Jr, an analyst on North Korean affairs.
He concluded that "regardless of whether ballistic missiles are present or not, (it) will be one of the largest in North Korea's history."
The parade is one of North Korea's most significant holidays -- next to the birthdays of the country's founder Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il.
"We want to celebrate in the most significant way," Sin Un Gyong, a North Korean student told CNN's Will Ripley in Pyongyang before parade.
The Workers' Party of Korea is the political party that governs and runs North Korea.
"The Workers' Party is the locus of power in North Korea," Sung-Yoon Lee, professor of Korean Studies at Tufts University. "The party runs everything."
It was founded 70 years ago, after World War II and following the end of the Japanese occupation of Korea. With the Korean peninsula in disarray, a group chaired by Kim Il Sung in the Soviet-occupied northern part formed the Communist political party that came to be known as the Workers' Party of Korea.
Ask us about our FREE financial advice program: 
Other Top Stories:
Technical Analysis Lesson 1 - Introduction
How I Made Over $30,000 a Year by Investing in Binary Options
Follow us and SHARE this story on Facebook: 
