Pyongyang threatens military build-up

North Korean media yesterday threatened to create a "1,000-fold" increase in its military capacity, after the United States ruled out lifting sanctions on Kim Jong Il's isolated government.

The tension between Pyongyang and Washington comes less than a month after the appointment of Kim Jong Il's son, Kim Jong Un, as a senior general in the North Korean military, one of the clearest signs yet that he has been chosen to succeed his ailing father.