On the anniversary of the founding of the state: North Korea holds military parade

Status: 02/09/2023 04:08 a.m

North Korea has held a nighttime military parade to mark the 75th anniversary of the state and its military. A new type of rocket may have been presented.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un watched a military parade in the capital Pyongyang. As photos from the state media showed, Kim appeared with his wife and little daughter at the big event. From a balcony, the ruler smiled and raised his hand as thousands of soldiers lined up in the brightly lit Kim Il Sung Square, named after his grandfather, the founder of the state.

The troops presented the latest devices from the constantly growing nuclear arsenal, which is fueling tensions with neighboring countries and the USA. Details on the type of weapons on display were not given in the state media report; it was also unclear whether Kim gave a speech. Satellite images of the parade, released by US-private company Maxar Technologies, showed large trucks laden with rockets passing through the main square in front of thousands of spectators.

Images show previously unknown rocket

In the process, a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) may have been unveiled. “Following the apparent Hwasong-17 ICBM pairs are four unidentified but apparently similarly sized canister systems,” Joseph Dempsey, a defense researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, wrote on Twitter.

Satellite images of the military parade in Pyongyang show trucks carrying rockets.

Image: AP

The Hwasong-17 is North Korea’s largest long-range missile to date. The new missile could be an ICBM, which was shown at a parade in 2017 but has not yet been tested, said Ankit Panda of the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace.

Contrary to United Nations (UN) sanctions, North Korea has pushed ahead with the development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in recent years. Most of the country’s largest ballistic missiles run on liquid fuel, so they must be refueled at the launch site, a time-consuming process.

The parade was held to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the communist state’s armed forces. This was preceded by weeks of preparations involving a large number of soldiers and civilians. Governments around the world and experts are closely following military parades in North Korea, hoping they will provide clues about possible new weapons that Pyongyang may be testing or deploying.

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