PYONGYANG: In heavy rain, North Koreans put down their umbrellas to bow before the mausoleum of founder Kim Il Sung and his son on Thursday as the country marked the end of the Korean War, which it calls Victory Day.There had been widespread speculation in US and South Korean intelligence circles that the North might choose to mark the anniversary with a fresh missile launch, following its first successful test earlier this month of an intercontinental ballistic missile that experts judged capable of reaching Alaska or Hawaii.As of late Thursday, no such launch had materialised and, in Pyongyang, the day was given over to memorialising the ruling Kim dynasty as the defenders of the nation. "Our country is ever-victorious because we have the greatest leaders in the world," said Hong Yong-Dok, who was at the Kumsusan Palace with his granddaughters.The Korean people had suffered at the hands of "US imperialists for ages, and even my parents were killed by them in the Korean war. "I was moved to tears when I met the great leaders," retired financial official Ri Sun-Gyong, 71, said afterwards, her voice trembling with emotion. "I always miss them. "I just wanted to tell my son, the new generation, that our Korean history is the history of victory," she said.

Source: Times of India July 27, 2017 09:38 UTC