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North Korean Hosts April Spring People's Art Festival Amid Nuclear Missile Threats (PICTURES)

North Korea Hosts 'Friendship Boosting' Arts Festival Amid Nuclear Missile Threats
Sara C Nelson
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North Korea may be beating the war drum but in many respects it was business as usual as the country kicked off a series of events to celebrate the Kim dynasty and promote "friendship between the world's peoples".

The April Spring People’s Art Festival runs for a week from the 11th of the month and showcases the best of the country's art, music and culture.

Online literature for the event declares: “Pyongyang and the beautiful balmy spring weather welcomes visitors from around the world to attend.

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Performers sing a song of yearning about late leader Kim Jong Il

“The festival will serve as a good opportunity to boost the friendship between the world’s peoples and performing artists and promote cultural exchange and cooperation.”

Images released on Thursday revealed performers singing songs of yearning about the nation’s late leader Kim Jong Il.

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The festival is the third to be hosted in North Korea

The festival will also mark the late president Kim Il Sung’s birthday on April 15 – an event known as the Day of the Sun.

Last week, the North Korean military moved two Musudan missiles to the east coast of the country.

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The mobile intermediate-range ballistic missiles, which boast a range of more than 8,000 miles, could threaten US interests in the Pacific, particularly the US territory of Guam, as well as the Japanese mainland.

In response, the US has deployed a missile defence system around the island, while South Korea has sent destroyers to protect its coasts.

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Women carry a flag marking the start of the festival at the east Pyongyang Grand Theatre in Pyongyang

Kim Jong Un Visits The Troops
(01 of17)
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In this March 11, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 12, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un greets military personnel at a long-range artillery sub-unit of KPA Unit 641 during his visit to front-line military units near the western sea boarder in North Korea near the South's western border island of Baengnyeong. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) (credit:AP)
(02 of17)
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In this March 11, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 12, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves at military officers after inspecting the Wolnae Islet Defense Detachment, North Korea, near the western sea border with South Korea. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) (credit:AP)
(03 of17)
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In this March 11, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 12, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, confers with military officers at a long-range artillery sub-unit of KPA Unit 641 during his visit to front-line military units near the western sea border in North Korea near the South's western border island of Baengnyeong. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) (credit:AP)
(04 of17)
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In this undated photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 12, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second left, watches sturgeons in a pond at the Ryongjong Fish Farm in South Hwanghae, southwestern North Korea. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) (credit:AP)
(05 of17)
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In this March 11, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 12, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rides on a boat, heading for the Wolnae Islet Defense Detachment, North Korea, near the western sea border with South Korea. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) (credit:AP)
(06 of17)
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In this March 11, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 12, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, third left, looks at South's western border island of Baengnyeong during his visit to the Wolnae Islet Defense Detachment, North Korea. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) (credit:AP)
(07 of17)
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In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 8, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, is welcomed by military personnel at a military unit on Jangjae islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) (credit:AP)
(08 of17)
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In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 8, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, walks with military personnel as he arrives for a military unit on Mu Islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) (credit:AP)
(09 of17)
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In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 8, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, uses binoculars to look at the South's territory from an observation post at the military unit on Jangjae islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) (credit:AP)
(10 of17)
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In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 8, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with military officials, gets a ride on a boat on his way to a military unit on Jangjae Islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) (credit:AP)
(11 of17)
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This picture, taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 7, 2013 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) meeting with family of a soldier as he inspects Jangjae Islet Defence Detachment near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province, North Korea's southwestern sector of the front. (KCNA/AFP/Getty Images via KNS) (credit:Getty Images)
(12 of17)
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This picture, taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 7, 2013 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) inspecting Jangjae Islet Defence Detachment near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province, North Korea's southwestern sector of the front. (KCNA/AFP/Getty Images via KNS) (credit:Getty Images)
(13 of17)
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This picture, taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 7, 2013 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) waving to soldiers from a wooden boat as he inspects the Mu Islet Hero Defence Detachment near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province, North Korea's southwestern sector of the front. (KCNA/AFP/Getty Images via KNS) (credit:Getty Images)
(14 of17)
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This picture, taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 7, 2013 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) meeting with family of a soldier as he inspects Jangjae Islet Defence Detachment near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province, North Korea's southwestern sector of the front. (KCNA/AFP/Getty Images via KNS) (credit:Getty Images)
(15 of17)
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This picture, taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 7, 2013 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) inspecting Jangjae Islet near from South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province, North Korea's southwestern sector of the front. (KCNA/AFP/Getty Images via KNS) (credit:Getty Images)
(16 of17)
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This picture, taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 7, 2013 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) inspecting the Mu Islet Hero Defence Detachment near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province, North Korea's southwestern sector of the front. (KCNA/AFP/Getty Images via KNS) (credit:Getty Images)
(17 of17)
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This picture, taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 7, 2013 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) posing with soldiers and their family members as he inspects Jangjae Islet Defence Detachment near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province, North Korea's southwestern sector of the front. (KCNA/AFP/Getty Images via KNS) (credit:Getty Images)
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