Seoul - North Korea on Friday marked the 65th birthday of its leader Kim Jong Il with dancing and warnings of possible aggression from the United States.
Television footage from Pyongyang showed thousands of couples - the women wearing colourful traditional dresses - dancing on the central square of the capital. Exhibits and concerts were also
planned in honour of Kim, the state-run media in the Stalinist country said.
South Korean media also reported that extra food rations were to be distributed to the people of the impoverished country.
In a joint congratulatory letter written to Kim, the cabinet, the Korean Workers' Party and the military said they wished to mobilize all forces to defend the country.
"All of the People's Army soldiers and the people will maintain war preparedness to the full to deal with US imperialists' manoeuvres for aggression," said the letter carried on the official Korean Central News Agency.
The celebrations came three days after Pyongyang pledged to disable a key nuclear facility in return for energy aid and other concessions. The pact came at negotiations in Beijing with the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, who saw the agreement as the first step in dismantling North Korea's nuclear-weapons programme.
