North Korea has begun a series of lavish spectacles to celebrate 60 years since the nation was founded.

A series of mass performances was held in the capital Pyongyang on Monday night, attended by thousands of spectators.

At the city's May Day Stadium, the celebration, called "Arirang", saw up to 100,000 performers stage a highly-coordinated dance and gymnastic spectacle.

Thousands of children held books of flashcards to provide the backdrop to the performance, creating a rapidly changing screen displaying images and slogans.

The Arirang - taken from a Korean folk tale and first staged in 2002 - consists of a series of scenes, some depicting parts of Korean history, others promoting North Korea's government and socialist system.

The country marks its 60th anniversary on September 9 and this year's performances are likely to run from August 4 until late September.

Meanwhile, US President George W Bush has arrived in South Korea for talks focused on North Korea.

He will discuss progress in verifying the North's account of its nuclear weapons programme and their free trade deal with South Korea, signed by the two governments last year but yet to be ratified by either's legislature.

Following the Japanese occupation of Korea which ended in 1945, the Soviet Union controlled the area north of the 38th parallel while the US was in charge of the area south of this, until opposing governments were formed in 1948.

The US and the Soviet Union then withdrew their forces but growing tensions led in 1950 to the Korean war when on June 25, the (North) Korean People's Army crossed the 38th parallel.

The war continued until July 27, 1953, but no peace treaty has yet been signed to formally end the fighting and as a result, the Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) now separates the two countries.

There are about 28,000 US troops stationed in the South in case of attack by the North.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.