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SEOUL • An apparently emotional Mr. Kim Jong Un apologized for failing to improve the lives of North Koreans in a speech at an unprecedented pre-dawn military parade that showcased the country’s long-range ballistic missiles for the first time in two years.
Analysts said the missile displayed on an 11-axis carrier vehicle would be one of the world’s largest road mobile ICBMs if operational.
Also on display was the Hwasong-15, which is the longest-range missile North Korea has ever tested, and what appeared to be a new submarine-launched ballistic missile.
Ahead of the parade, which was held to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the ruling North Korean Workers’ Party, officials from South Korea and the United States said Kim could use the event to reveal a new “strategic weapon. “as promised previously. this year.
The parade featured ballistic missiles for the first time since Kim began meeting with international leaders, including US President Donald Trump, in 2018.
“We will continue to build our national defense power and self-defense war deterrent,” Kim said, but promised that the country’s military power will not be used preemptively. He made no direct mention of the United States or the now stalled denuclearization talks.
Meanwhile, the state-run KCNA news agency said North Korea’s authority and security depended on “the huge strategic nuclear forces” displayed at the parade.
Chad O’Carroll, executive director of the Korea Risk Group that monitors North Korea, said more new military equipment was on display at this event than at almost any previous parade.
Kim blamed international sanctions, typhoons and the coronavirus pandemic for preventing him from fulfilling his promises of economic progress.
“I am ashamed that I could not properly reward them for their enormous confidence,” he said. “My efforts and devotion were not enough to lift our people out of difficult livelihoods.”
Video footage from the event showed Mr. Kim making an appearance as a clock struck midnight. Dressed in a gray suit and tie, he greeted the crowd and accepted children’s flowers while surrounded by military officers in Pyongyang’s recently renovated Kim Il Sung Square.
On occasion, with an emotional appearance, Kim thanked the military for working hard to respond to a series of damaging summer typhoons and for preventing a coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Kim said he was grateful that not a single North Korean had tested positive for the disease, a claim that South Korea and the United States had previously disputed.
Kim said he hopes both Koreas will unite again after the coronavirus crisis is over.
“It is an impressively large gathering during a global pandemic, suggesting that North Korean authorities are more concerned with political history and national morale than with preventing a Covid-19 super-spread event,” said Professor Leif-Eric Easley, who teaches at Ewha Womans University of Seoul.
In a congratulatory message to Mr Kim on the anniversary, Chinese President Xi Jinping said he intended to “defend, consolidate and develop” ties with North Korea, state media said yesterday.
REUTERS
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