(Bloomberg) — North Korea held a military parade in central Pyongyang as it marks the anniversary for the end of Korean War fighting 70 years ago with delegations from its most important security and economic partners — China and Russia.
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The parade was held Thursday night in central Pyongyang, Yonhap News Agency of South Korea reported, citing an informed source it didn’t name. Satellite imagery of preparations indicated the event included intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear warheads to the US mainland, NK News, which specializes in coverage of North Korea, reported.
North Korea typically films its military parades and edits video for broadcast on state television the next day. There has so far been no mention of the event on its official media.
The celebrations coinciding with 70th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953 come at a crucial time for leader Kim Jong Un. He is looking to powerful friends in Moscow and Beijing for support to fend off new sanctions as he increases the potency of his nuclear arms program designed to deliver strikes on the US and its allies. The North Korean leader is also seeking to ease up on the pandemic border controls that slammed the brakes on his economy.
The military parade allows Kim to showcase his latest weaponry, much of which has evolved from systems from the two countries. China fought with North Korea in the war and the Soviet Union helped supply the political and military backing to state founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current leader who sent troops across the border in 1950 to start the fighting.
At North Korea’s last military parade in February, the regime rolled out its biggest display of ICBMs, which included a new, solid-fuel version. Kim also brought along his daughter, showing there’s another generation in the Kim dynasty forged in the Cold War that will depend on nuclear arms for its survival.
Since then, North Korea has twice tested the new solid fuel Hwasong-18 ICBM, designed to carry a multiple nuclear weapons. Solid-fuel missiles have the propellants baked into rockets, allowing them to stay hidden. They can also be rolled out and fired in minutes, giving the US less time to prepare for interception. The challenge becomes even greater if the missile carries several warheads instead of one.
The other ICBMs North Korea has tested are liquid-fueled, which make them vulnerable to attack before launch as it takes time to fill their engines with propellant while they sit on the pad.
“Beyond its missile advances, North Korea’s more conventional forces still remain dependent on increasingly obsolete equipment, largely of Soviet and Chinese origin,” said Joseph Dempsey, a research associate for defense and military analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
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