North Korea celebrated the birthday of late ruler Kim Jong-Il Monday with mass fireworks, high-ranking military promotions and a rally by senior officials to pledge loyalty to current leader Kim Jong-Un.  

To mark the February 16 date, Kim Jong-Un promoted dozens of top military officers on Sunday and paid a midnight visit to the mausoleum housing his father's embalmed body, the North's state-run KCNA news agency said. 

North Korea unveiled Thursday an exclamation mark peppered list of 310 new political slogans covering every conceivable topic, from the glories of the ruling Kim dynasty and mushroom cultivation to the importance of dependable wives and "offensive" sports.

Oh, and the perennial need to wipe out U.S. imperialist scum.

North Korea stepped up its rhetoric against the South Wednesday, warning that its neighbor would face a "most miserable end" if it joined the U.S. in "a war of aggression" against Pyongyang.

The threat follows a series of North Korean missile tests, reflecting escalating military tensions on the divided peninsula ahead of large-scale U.S.-South Korea military drills next month.

North Korea test-fired five short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast Sunday, raising cross-border tensions ahead of Seoul's planned joint army drills with the U.S. 

The North fired the missiles into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) from its eastern city of Wonsan between 4:20-5:10 pm, (0720-0810 GMT) Seoul's defence ministry spokesman told AFP.

China has released on bail a Canadian woman under investigation for undermining state security while her husband has been held on spying charges, Beijing said Thursday, six months after they were detained.

Kevin Garratt and Julia Dawn Garratt, a Christian couple who ran a coffee shop in the Chinese city of Dandong, on the border with North Korea, were seized last August, prompting an international diplomatic row.

The United States and South Korea on Thursday kicked off a joint naval exercise involving a U.S. nuclear submarine that is certain to draw a sharp response from Pyongyang.

The USS Olympia (SSN-717), a Los Angeles-class submarine with some 120 sailors, arrived in the southern port city of Jinhae last Friday for the three-day drill.

North Korea on Thursday attacked a "deceitful" memoir by former South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak in which he claimed Pyongyang tried to sell Seoul a leadership summit for $10 billion.

Accusing Lee of seeking to "turn black into white" with his version of the summit negotiations, the North said Lee had "begged" for a sit down with its then-leader, Kim Jong-Il.

China expressed concern about the possible deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defence system in South Korea during talks Wednesday between their defence chiefs, Seoul military officials said.

Washington is considering whether to instal the politically sensitive THAAD (Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense) system in the South, a close U.S. ally which hosts 29,000 American troops.

North Korea on Wednesday ruled out resuming dialogue with the "gangster-like" United States, and vowed to respond to any U.S. aggression with nuclear strikes and cyber warfare.

The bellicose statement from the country's top military body, the National Defence Commission (NDC), came after reported moves by Washington and Pyongyang to revive long-stalled six-nation talks on denuclearisation.

South Korea and China will resume talks this week on efforts to curb North Korea's nuclear weapons program, following reported moves by Washington and Pyongyang to revive a long-stalled six-nation denuclearization forum.

Hwang Joon-Kook, South Korea's chief delegate to the six-party talks, will meet his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei in Beijing on Wednesday, Seoul's foreign ministry said.