North Korea vows revenge on US, South

North Korea condemned aggression by Washington and Seoul and pledged to take revenge on Saturday, as it marked the 72nd anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War at a time of rising tension on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden agreed in May to deploy more US military weapons if necessary to deter North Korea, despite concerns that North Korea could be preparing to conduct its first nuclear test in five years.

The North's state news agency KCNA said on Saturday that a number of workers' organizations had held meetings to vow revenge on the US imperialists, blamed the United States for starting the 1950 -- 1953 Korean War.

The war ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, so the US-led UN forces are still at war with North Korea.

According to the KCNA report, Pyongyang denounced Washington over what it called aggression moves carried out with South Korea and Japan, and said that the US push to deploy strategic assets on the South was aimed at provoking another war.

Such insolent behavior by the US fans has resulted in the anger and revenge of the Korean people, KCNA said. Yoon pledged to do his utmost to protect freedom and peace after the war anniversary in Seoul. He wrote on Facebook that we will maintain a strong security posture based on the South Korea-US alliance and a strong military backed by science and technology. Saturday's anniversary came amid concerns that Pyongyang could conduct what would be its seventh nuclear test, which the US and South Korean officials have said could take place any time now.