North Korea marks the 63rd anniversary of its founding with a massive indoor rally.
The isolated country's state-run KRT television shows high-profile officials attending the celebration.
Addressing recent tensions on the divided peninsula, a senior cabinet official denounced South Korea and the United States, insisting both countries are behind "smear campaigns and
provocations".
He added that North Korea should, however, step up to the challenges, and forge a new path towards Korean reunification.
The North's leader Kim Jong-il and his son, who is being groomed to take over, were not present at the rally.
Kim, who pledged last month that he wants to resume talks with the South, said he is committed to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
Travis Brecher, Reuters
