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North Korea carried out a gigantic military parade this Saturday, according to images broadcast on television, with thousands of soldiers without a mask in a country that closed its borders eight months ago and in which, according to its leader, Kim jong un, there is not a single case of coronavirus.
The long-awaited act was part of the commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party, in power.
The hermetic communist regime celebrated the event in its own right after it closed its borders eight months ago to protect itself from the coronavirus, of which it reported no cases.
In a speech before the public, Kim Jong Un was grateful that “not a single person” had contracted the coronavirus in the country, and stated that wished “good health to all the people of the world who fight against the evils of this fatal virus.”
The KCTV public broadcaster broadcast the images of the squads of armed soldiers and armored vehicles, lining the streets of Pyongyang, ready to parade through Kim Il Sung Square, in night images.
Neither the participants nor the audience wore a maskBut there were far fewer citizens than there are usually in the square.
The broadcast began with an image of a propaganda poster for the commemorations, in which three North Koreans appear with the symbols of a sickle, a hammer and a brush and the slogan “The greatest victory for our great party.”
In general, North Korean parades are closed with a missile that the government wants to highlight Among its entire arsenal, and observers tend to pay special attention to this, looking for any clue about the North’s weapons development.
“We will continue to strengthen our army, for self-defense and deterrence purposes,” the North Korean leader declared in his speech.
According to a statement by the South Korean chiefs of staff, the parade would have taken place early in the morning on Saturday when “signs of a military parade with people and equipment were detected” in the Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang.
South Korean and US intelligence agencies “closely followed the event”they added.
“Big step forward”
North Korea is believed to have continued to develop its arsenal, allegedly to protect yourself from America, after the failure of the Hanoi summit with the president Donald trump in February of last year.
Analysts believe the country is developing a new submarine ballistic missile (SLBM) or intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the United States and evading US defense systems.
The anniversary of the Workers’ Party means that North Korea “has a political and strategic need for something great,” interpreted Sung-yoon Lee, a Korean professor at Tufts University in the United States.
The demonstration of the most advanced weapons “will mean a great step forward in Pyongyang’s real threat capability,” he said.
Unlike other occasions, the foreign press was not allowed to witness the parade And since many embassies are closed due to the coronavirus, there were hardly any foreign observers in the city.
The Russian embassy in Pyongyang posted a message on its Facebook page asking diplomats and other international representatives not to “come near or take photos” of the commemorations.
Masks and missiles?
In late December, Kim threatened to show a “new strategic weapon”But analysts think Pyongyang will carefully try not to jeopardize its chances with Washington before the next US presidential election in November.
Boasting of its strategic weapons in a military parade “would be consistent with Kim Jong Un’s promise,” although on the other hand, it is not in the interest of “provoking the United States with the testing of a strategic weapon,” said Rachel Lee, a former government adviser. American over North Korea.
For his part, Harry Kazianis, from the Center for National Interests, warned of the risk that the presence of thousands of people could become a “great propagator” of the coronavirus, if “extreme precautions” were not taken.
The poor health system in this impoverished country would find it difficult to cope with a massive outbreak, although it believes that prevention measures seem unlikely. “Obviously, masks and missiles don’t mix”, ended.
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