On Korean War anniversary, South urges North to end weapons development

South Korea marked the anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War on Sunday with a call for the North to halt development of its missiles and nuclear programmes.

"The North continues provocative military actions such as launching a ballistic missile," South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon told war veterans and government officials at a ceremony in the capital, Seoul.

The 67th anniversary of war comes amid fears the North will conduct a sixth nuclear test and more ballistic missile launches in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Lee said the North "should stop developing missile and nuclear programmes and come out on to the path of denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula".

The Korean War started on June 25, 1950, when Communist North Korean troops launched a surprise attack across the 38th parallel into South Korea.

US-led United Nations forces battled Chinese and Soviet-backed North Korea in the war which ended with a truce on July 27, 1953. The two Koreas remain in a technical state of war.