PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL AND EDITED KRT MATERIAL

(ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met with elderly war veterans who arrived in Pyongyang to celebrate the 59th anniversary of the armistice treaty with South Korea, North Korea's state media said on Tuesday (July 31).

North's state-run television KRT released video showing thousands of war veterans erupting into loud applause and warmly greeting the reclusive country's new leader on Monday (July 30).

The 1950-53 Korean war broke out on June 25 with the North Korean troops' invasion into the South.

The armistice, signed on July 27, 1953, stopped the fighting between U.S.-led U.N. forces backing South Korea, and Communist Chinese and North Korean troops.

The truce has never been converted into a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas in a technical state of war.

The North calls the armistice a victory, saying it defeated the U.S. and protected the sovereignty of the communist country under the founder Kim Il-sung.