North Korea has staged a massive military parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the signing of the armistice of the Korean War, its state media reported Friday, displaying its latest intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and drones in a show of its military might.
With senior delegations from China and Russia present, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took to the reviewing stand to observe the military parade in Kim Il Sung Square late Thursday to mark Victory Day, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
He did not deliver a much-anticipated speech at the event.
The Korean War, which started with an invasion by the North in 1950, ended with the armistice on July 27, 1953. But the North claimed victory in the war, celebrating the date of the armistice signing as Victory Day.
The recalcitrant regime has used the parades to flaunt its military capabilities by displaying new high-tech weapons. The latest parade, the second in about five months, came amid heightened tensions caused by Pyongyang's continued missile tests.
At the parade, the North showcased advanced drones and long-range missiles, such as liquid-propellant Hwasong-17 ICBMs and solid-fuel Hwasong-18 ICBMs.
"Strategic unmanned surveillance aircraft and multi-role attack drones hovered overhead in demonstration flights, after they were newly developed and produced," the KCNA said.
It also described the Hwasong-18 ICBMs as "the most powerful and core means" of the country's strategic force to "overwhelmingly" counter nuclear threats by its enemies.
Observers said North Korea apparently aims to use its anniversary events to show off its solidarity with China and Russia, amid increasing security cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan against Pyongyang's provocations.
North Korea has invited Chinese and Russian officials to its celebrations, marking its first known foreign visitors since Pyongyang's tight border closure over COVID-19 in early 2020. Beijing and Moscow supported Pyongyang during the Cold War-era conflict.
A Russian delegation led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and a Chinese group led by Li Hongzhong, a politburo member of the Chinese Communist Party, arrived in Pyongyang this week to take part in Victory Day commemorations.
The North's leader gave Shoigu a tour of an arms exhibition Wednesday, which showcased new advanced weapons, including ICBMs and an unmanned aerial vehicle that appears to be modeled after the U.S. Global Hawk surveillance aircraft.
North Korea fired a Hwasong-18 ICBM earlier this month following its first test in April. The solid-propellant ICBM type is among the high-tech weapons that the North has vowed to develop, which also includes a military spy satellite and a nuclear-powered submarine.
The country has recently been ramping up weapons tests, as Seoul and Washington are stepping up efforts to bolster America's extended deterrence commitment to mobilizing the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend its ally.
The North warned that a U.S. nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarine's recent port visit to South Korea could meet legal conditions for its use of nuclear weapons. In September, the Kim regime enacted a new nuclear law authorizing the preemptive use of nuclear arms, calling its status of a nuclear state "irreversible."
Under Kim's rule, the North has staged 14 military parades, including this week's event. The last parade was held in February to mark the 75th founding anniversary of its armed forces and the North introduced the Hwasong-18 ICBM for the first time during the parade.
Source: Yonhap News Agency