North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has warned that ‘terrible retaliatory attacks’ will be carried out against any force committing hostile military acts against his country during a military parade marking a key party congress, state media reported on Thursday. 

Kim made the remarks at the nighttime parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on Wednesday as the high-profile ruling party gathering drew to a close that day, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“Our armed forces are fully ready to cope with any circumstances,” Kim said in a speech carried by the KCNA.

“Our army will deliver terrible retaliatory attacks to any forces the moment they commit hostile military acts of infringing upon our national sovereignty and security interests.”

“In this world of today, it is the topmost, overriding task of our state and the duty of our armed forces, which no one else could perform for them, to reliably defend the rights to existence and development of our state and people,” he added.

Photos released by the KCNA showed Kim; his daughter, Ju-ae, who is widely speculated as the successor to her father; his wife, Ri Sol-ju; and other top officials watching the parade at the viewing stand.

The photos did not display any of the country’s key weapons systems, such as the Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile unveiled last October, in an apparent indication that they were not included.

The KCNA dispatch said the parade featured aerial performances and 50 formations of marching troops, including those from overseas operations and engineering units, which have been deployed to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The ninth congress of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea kicked off last Thursday to outline major policy directions for the next five years on diplomacy, defense, the economy and other areas, Yonhap news agency reported.

During a policy review session, Kim said Pyongyang has no reason not to get along with the United States if Washington withdraws its hostile policy against his country but rejected Seoul’s overtures for talks as ‘deceptive.’