North Korea on Thursday appeared to dial down its war rhetoric and turned attention to lauding the achievements attained under its leader Kim Jong-un as nations in the region remain on high alert for a possible missile launch by Pyongyang.
"The selection of Kim Jong-un, our comrade, as the first secretary was a great political incident that is a milestone for a turning point in our party's efforts to consolidate the party and build a powerful nation," the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.
Thursday marked the first anniversary of Kim assuming the top post of the ruling Worker's Party a year ago.
"History has never seen any socialist leader like him," the newspaper noted.
But tension has been running high in the Korean Peninsula with North Korea recently issuing almost daily war threats.
A satellite image captured Thursday morning showed North Korea had already raised a missile launcher in its east, the Kyodo News Agency cited a Japanese defense official as reporting. But the official noted that the act could also be one of deception.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency also cited government sources as saying that North Korea appeared to have moved two Musudan intermediate missiles in and out of a facility on its east coast Thursday in an attempt to confuse intelligence monitoring.
The mid-range untested Musudan missiles have an estimated range of up to 4,000 kilometers, meaning they could hit any target in South Korea and Japan and potentially the US military bases on Guam.
South Korean defense ministry on Thursday vowed to intercept any missiles targeting the country.
South Korean ambassador to China Lee Kyu-hyung said Thursday in an interview with the Xinhua news agency that Seoul would not under any circumstances "open the first shot" despite Pyongyang's provocations.
In Washington, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned Wednesday that the North was "skating very close to a dangerous line" with its recent saber-rattling and that they are ready to take action to protect the interests of the US and its allies.
There was speculation that Pyongyang would conduct the missile launch on Friday, when US Secretary of State John Kerry is due to arrive in Seoul.
Choi Choon-heum, a senior researcher with the Seoul-based Korean Institute for National Unification, told the Global Times Thursday that it does not make any difference when North Korea launches the missile.
"The timing (of the launch) is not important because everybody knows that they will do so. What matters is if North Korea will choose to hit targets of military bases in South Korea and other places," Choi said.
Jin Qiangyi, director of the Asia Research Center with China's Yanbian University, told the Global Times that North Korea is pushing the tension to the limit and is therefore unlikely to make a concession first.
"They have no other choice but to ratchet up the tension, but I don't think Pyongyang would deliberately provoke a military conflict by hitting US and South Korean military bases," Jin said.
"After all, what North Korea wants is the international community to accept its status as a nuclear state," he noted.
But Choi warned Pyongyang might go further.
"North Korea wanted to use the chance to show off its military strength, which was boosted through its rocket launch and nuclear test. Besides, Kim Jong-un is a young leader, and it is possible that they miscalculate the situation and choose to attack military targets this time," Choi said.
In an apparent move to show its defiance, North Korea on Thursday also threatened to close its sole remaining industrial program with the South for good after it halted operations and pulled its entire staff out of the complex on Monday.
South Korea's unification minister said Thursday he hopes North Korea will immediately come to the negotiating table to discuss the normalization of the industrial complex.
Agencies contributed to this story