In this photo released by the North Korean government, the country’s leader Kim Jong Un (center); Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (left) and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress Li Hongzhong (right) attend a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting in the Korean War (1950-1953) at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on July 27, 2023. (Korea Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) KCNA via KNS
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, greets Korean War veterans during a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, in Busan, South Korea, Thursday, July 27, 2023. (Kim Min -Hee/Photo shared via AP)
In this photo released by the North Korean government, what it identifies as a Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is shown during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War (1950-1953). ) at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on July 27, 2023. (Korea Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) KCNA via KNS
Kim watched the event Thursday night with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese ruling party official Li Hongzhong from a balcony overlooking Kim Il Sung Square, named after the founder of Korea. del Norte, the grandfather of the current president.
Redacted footage broadcast on North Korean state television on Friday showed the streets and stands packed with thousands of spectators rallied for the occasion, cheering as soldiers, tanks and huge truck-loaded intercontinental ballistic missiles rolled down the main avenue.
People from all over the country were brought to the capital Pyongyang to fill the stands, state media said.
The parade kicked off previous activities that included ceremonial flights of new surveillance and attack drones, which state media unveiled this week when reporting on an arms expo attended by Kim and Shoigu.
The main act began with the arrival of Kim at the square in a limousine escorted by motorcycles in formation. Kim greeted the honor guard and military officials and walked down a red carpet to enter the building, where he was greeted by Shoigu and Li on the balcony as troops below chanted “protect Kim with our lives!”
Organizers delivered messages in Russian, Chinese and Korean as they introduced the president’s guests to the crowd, who responded with cheers and applause.
During the show, Kim smiled and chatted with Shoigu and Li, who stood to her right and left, respectively, in the center of the balcony. Kim and Shoigu waved to the participants. State television did not show Kim giving a speech.
The main weapons in the North Korean arsenal were shown off at the end, as soldiers toured the new Hwasong-17 and Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missiles, which were recently tested and could reach the US mainland. Some analysts say the shells are based on Russian designs and experience.
North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam, who described the parade as a historic celebration of the “great victory against the US imperialists and the forces of the nations that accompanied them,” said the country, under Kim’s leadership, could “prosper indefinitely”.
In addition, he condemned Washington for expanding its military exercises with South Korea, which Pyongyang views as invasion rehearsals, and for holding new rounds of nuclear contingency planning meetings with Seoul. The allies say their exercises are defensive and that improvements in training and planning are needed to deal with the growing nuclear threat posed by the secretive nation.
The North Korean state press also highlighted the message sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which he thanked Kim for his “firm support” for his war efforts in Ukraine. Putin said the interests of Moscow and Pyongyang were aligning in countering the “collective West in its policy of standing in the way of establishing a genuinely multipolar and just world order,” according to the Kremlin’s version of the letter.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
