The North's defense minister has made a threatening remark, amid tense inter-Korean confrontation following North Korea's recent provocations.
 
Speaking at a rally held at Mount Baekdu on Friday, Minister of the People's Armed Forces Pak Yong-sik warned that if the United States and its followers violate the North's sovereignty even by the slightest degree, the North will "deform their shapes."  
 
The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency also quoted the minister as saying that the North Korean military respects leader Kim Jong-un and will continue to bring honor to his military accomplishments.
 
Pak was appointed as defense minister after his predecessor, Hyon Yong-chol, was executed last May. Pak is second in power in the North's military after Hwang Pyong-so, chief of the military's General Political Bureau.
 
Ranking party, government and military officials attended the rally as an early celebration of February 16, the birthday of former leader Kim Jong-il, which is a national holiday in North Korea.