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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un addressed an unusual pre-dawn military parade in Pyongyang on Saturday to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of his ruling Workers’ Party, according to images broadcast on state television.
Kim thanked the military, who displayed new strategic weapons, for their help in recovering from a series of damaging storms over the summer, and praised the country’s efforts to prevent any coronavirus outbreak.
The anniversary, celebrated with a series of concerts and festivals, was closely followed throughout the region, as it was seen as an event where Kim was able to convey messages to both domestic and foreign audiences.
State broadcaster KCTV showed squad after squad of armed soldiers and armored vehicles lined up in the streets of Pyongyang ready to march through Kim Il Sung Square in a nighttime display.
None of the participants or the audience lined up in the stands wore masks, but there were far fewer citizens than usual in the square itself.
The program began with an image of a propaganda poster for the commemorations, which showed three North Koreans holding their symbols of a hammer, sickle and brush, and the slogan: “The greatest glory to our great party.”
North Korea’s military parades typically culminate with the missiles that Pyongyang wants to highlight, and observers watch them closely for clues about the development of their weapons.
According to the Seoul joint chiefs of staff, the display actually took place in the early hours of Saturday, when they said in a statement that “signs of a military parade, involving large-scale equipment and people, were detected in Kim Square. Il Sung. ”.
The intelligence agencies of South Korea and the United States were “closely following the event,” they added.
For weeks, commercial satellite images have shown thousands of North Korean soldiers practicing marches, and South Korean officials have said the North could use a parade to unveil a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), or a new submarine-launched ballistic missile ( SLBM).
An annotated satellite image shows the Mirim parade training ground and troop formations practicing in a replica of Kim Il Sung Square ahead of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang. [Airbus Defence & Space/38 North/Pleiades © CNES 2020, Distribution Airbus DS/Handout via Reuters]
The last time North Korea broadcast a military parade live on television was in 2017, when it showed several large ICBMs amid increased tension with the United States.
The missiles were on display again in February 2018, but international media were not allowed to watch and the event, to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the state, was not broadcast live. State television broadcast recorded images later.
Shortly after, Kim began a wave of diplomacy that included meeting with international leaders such as US President Donald Trump.
While no large missiles have been exhibited since then, the country conducted a series of test launches late last year and Kim promised a “new strategic weapon” in his New Year’s speech.
Economic tensions
Denuclearization talks with Washington have been halted and South Korean officials said Thursday that Kim could use the military parade as a “low intensity” show of power ahead of the US presidential election in November.
Just posting this … Could we witness North Korea’s first nightly military parade?
1. No one can hear any parades in PY at this time (various sources)
2. On Tuesday morning, there were many night-time drilling, including the flyby over Pyongyang.Just a guess …
– Chad O’Carroll (@chadocl) October 10, 2020
In a congratulatory message to Kim on the anniversary, Chinese President Xi Jinping said he intended to “defend, consolidate and develop” ties with North Korea, state media said on Saturday.
According to KCNA, Xi said he was “very satisfied” with the achievements North Korea had made in recent years in engaging with foreign countries in the face of difficulties and challenges.
After years of cold relations during which China joined the United States and other nations in imposing sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, Xi and Kim met five times in 2018 and 2019.
While North Korea says it has had no confirmed cases of COVID-19, strict border closures and other measures it imposed to prevent an outbreak have further strained its economy, which relies heavily on trade with China.
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