North Korea’s Kim Jong Un oversaw a major military parade that featured a record number of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles, state media reported Thursday, including what analysts said could be new fuel ICBMs.
A parade on Wednesday to mark the 75th anniversary of North Korea’s armed forces featured fireworks, a military band and uniformed soldiers marching together to chant “2.8” – the date of the celebration – and “75”, the official North Korean news agency said. reported.
Kim attended the parade with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and daughter Ju Ae, a video on state media showed. He wore a black suit and fedora combination favored by his grandfather, North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il Sung.
Pictures showed Kim flanked by Pyongyang’s top generals in central Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square, saluting as troops and missile units marched past as patriotic music played.
The weapons on display included at least 10 of the North’s largest Hwasong-17 ICBMs, as well as vehicles designed to carry solid-fuel ICBMs, Seoul specialist site NK News reported.
North Korea has long sought to develop solid-fuel ICBMs because the missiles are easier to store and transport, more stable and quicker to prepare for launch, and thus more difficult for the United States to detect and destroy pre-emptively.
KCNA said the crowd broke into “enthusiastic noise” when the ICBMs appeared in the square, and that the parade also featured a “tactical nuclear weapons operation unit”.
North Korea holds military parades to mark holidays and important events and is closely watched by observers for clues about the reclusive regime’s progress on banned ballistic and nuclear weapons.
The parade showed the DPRK’s “outstanding nuclear strike capability”, KCNA said, referring to North Korea by its official name.
A commercial satellite image taken by Maxar Technologies at 10:05 pm (1305 GMT) on Wednesday night showed a large North Korean flag and thousands of people gathered in Kim Il Sung square.
‘Full nuclear power’
Analysts said the size and scope of the weapons on display showed progress that represented a challenge for the United States.
“They have shown more ICBMs in their latest parade than they have shown before, consistent with long-standing directives from Kim Jong Un on nuclear weapons and mass delivery systems,” US analyst Ankit Panda told AFP.
That’s a problem, he said, because Washington has designed a homeland missile defense system to deal with a “limited” missile threat from North Korea.
“North Korea has now demonstrated that its nuclear forces are far from ‘limited’,” Panda said.
Other analysts say Pyongyang is sending a clear message by parading more of Kim’s most advanced Hwasong-17 missiles.
“This is North Korea trying to declare itself a complete nuclear power,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, told AFP.
“Kim Jong-un lets North Korea’s long-range and tactical missile forces speak for themselves.”
The next generation
Pyongyang’s state media has not mentioned Kim’s children for years – Seoul’s spy agency believes he has three with his wife Ri – but he appeared with his daughter Ju Ae at an intercontinental ballistic missile launch in November last year.
The 10-year-old has since appeared with his father at several high-profile events, most recently a party on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the formation of the army.
Analysts say she resembles North Korea’s “daughter” and her appearance with her father could indicate she is the anointed successor.
North Korea has held military parades at night in recent years, including the most recent one on Wednesday.
The parade comes after North Korea vowed to scale up and expand its military exercises to ensure its readiness for war. It followed a record-breaking year of weapons testing, including the firing of the most advanced ICBM.
Kim recently called for an “exponential” increase in Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal, including mass-produced tactical nuclear weapons and developing new missiles for nuclear counterattacks.