The ICBM, carried on a transporter-erector-launcher with no fewer than 11 axes, passed through Kim Il Sung Square as leader Kim Jong Un watched from a rostrum, images from state broadcaster KCTV showed.
It was the “world’s largest road mobile liquid fuel missile,” tweeted Ankit Panda of the Federation of American Scientists.
Nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington have been stalled since the collapse of the Hanoi summit early last year and North Korea is believed to have continued to develop its arsenal throughout the diplomatic process.
It has already launched missiles with the range to reach anywhere in the Continental US in 2017, but analysts suggested the new weapon could have multiple reentry vehicle capabilities, helping it evade US defense systems. USA
A screenshot shows an overview of North Korean tanks during a military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean Workers’ Party. (AFP)
The missile could see its first test at the time of the inauguration of the next US presidential term, as a signal for Donald Trump or Joe Biden.
The ICBM was previously preceded by the Pukguksong-4a, a new submarine-launched missile that would add another dimension to Pyongyang’s arsenal, which it says it needs to deter a US invasion.
North Korea’s Hwasong-15 ICBM during a military parade. (AFP)
Kim, dressed in a gray suit, told the crowd that Pyongyang “will continue to strengthen our military for self-defense and deterrence.”
“If you don’t have the strength, you will have to wipe away the tears and blood that flow with your two clenched fists,” he added.
Women in the crowd wiped tears from their eyes as he spoke, the video showed.
The long-awaited display was part of the 75th anniversary commemorations of the ruling Northern Workers’ Party and, according to Seoul’s joint chiefs of staff, took place early Saturday, several hours before its broadcast.
The intelligence agencies of South Korea and the United States were “closely following the event,” they added.
In late December, Kim threatened to demonstrate a “new strategic weapon,” but analysts say Pyongyang will continue to tread carefully to avoid jeopardizing its chances with Washington before presidential elections next month.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, cautioned that it was not yet clear how much of the equipment on display “really works.”
But he added: “Despite the policy of deception, the weapons displayed in Pyongyang processions are a sobering reminder that North Korea will not be ignored.”
During the parade, unit after unit of soldiers from different specialties marched through the plaza, with Kim at times smiling and joking with his generals.
Squadrons of warplanes flew above their heads firing flares before a series of armored vehicles and missiles rolled through the streets, and none of the participants or the audience in the stands wore masks.
The ruling party’s anniversary comes during a difficult year for North Korea, as the coronavirus pandemic and recent storms add pressure to the heavily sanctioned country.
The North has a ramshackle health system that would struggle to cope with a major outbreak, and Kim closed its borders in January to try to prevent contamination from the disease that first emerged in neighboring China.
Despite this since it swept the world, with more than 36 million cases, he said the North had not seen a single infection and repeatedly thanked its citizens for their efforts.
“Kim could even be seen choking and crying while reading his speech,” said former US government North Korea analyst Rachel Lee, describing the address as a departure from “the replay we’ve seen for years.”
Kim’s summit counterpart Trump was recently hospitalized for the disease and, although he did not directly mention the president of the United States or his country, he wished “good health to all the people around the world who are fighting against the ills of the world. evil virus “.
But Harry Kazianis of the Center for the National Interest cautioned that no one at the event socially distanced themselves or wore masks.
“While some would say this is a show of force, such bombast is sheer insanity,” he said, adding: “The Kim regime is playing with the lives of its own people.”
Unlike many previous occasions, no international media was allowed to see the parade.
And the few foreigners who remained in Pyongyang were not welcome at the commemorations, according to the Russian embassy, which posted a message from the authorities on its Facebook page urging diplomats and other international representatives not to “approach or take photos” of the places.
Kim is the third member of his family to lead the country. But in a possible sign of a shift in emphasis, the large-scale portraits of his grandfather, the founder of the North, Kim Il Sung, and father Kim Jong Il, appeared to have been removed from their positions on the plaza’s rostrum.
Instead, other images were installed further back and higher up in another building, the Great House of Studies of the People.
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