North Korea Unveils ‘Record’ Number of ICBMs at Military Parade
PYONHYANG (AFP/ RT) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a major military parade showcasing a record number of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles, state media reported, including what analysts said was possibly a new solid-fuelled ICBM.
The parade to mark the 75th founding anniversary of North Korea’s armed forces featured fireworks, military bands and uniformed soldiers marching in unison to spell out “2.8” -- the date of the celebration -- and “75”, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
Kim attended the parade with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and daughter Ju Ae, video on state media showed. He wore the black coat and fedora combination favored by his grandfather, North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il Sung.
Images showed Kim flanked by his top generals in Pyongyang’s central Kim Il Sung Square, saluting as troops and missile units paraded past while patriotic music played.
The weapons on show included at least 10 of the North’s largest Hwasong-17 ICBMs, as well as vehicles apparently designed to carry a solid-fuelled ICBM, Seoul-based specialist site NK News reported.
North Korea has long sought to develop a solid-fuel ICBM because such missiles are easier to store and transport, are more stable and quicker to prepare for launch, and thus harder for the United States to detect and destroy pre-emptively.
KCNA said the crowd broke into “enthusiastic cheers” when the ICBMs appeared in the square, and that the parade also featured “tactical nuclear weapons operation units”.
North Korea stages military parades to mark important holidays and events and are closely monitored by observers for clues about its progress on its ballistic and nuclear weapons.
The parade showcased the “tremendous nuclear strike capability of the DPRK”, KCNA said, referring to North Korea by its official name.
Commercial satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies at 10:05 pm (1305 GMT) showed a large North Korean flag and thousands of people assembled at Kim Il Sung square.
Analysts said the scale and scope of the weaponry on display showed advances that represented a challenge to the United States.
“They’ve shown more ICBMs in the latest parade than they’ve ever shown before, consistent with a longstanding directive from Kim Jong Un on mass producing nuclear weapons and delivery systems,” U.S.-based analyst Ankit Panda told AFP.
This is an issue, he said, because Washington has planned its homeland missile defense system to deal with a “limited” missile threat from North Korea.
“North Korea has now demonstrated that their nuclear forces are far from ‘limited’,” Panda said.
Other analysts said Pyongyang was sending a clear message by parading more of Kim’s most advanced Hwasong-17 missiles.
“This is North Korea trying to declare itself a full-fledged nuclear power,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, told AFP.
“Kim Jong-un let North Korea’s expanding tactical and long-range missile forces speak for themselves.”
U.S. Test Launches
Nuclear-Capable ICBM Missile
Meanwhile, the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch on Thursday evening was a test of nuclear deterrent readiness and a message to the world, the U.S. Air Force said on Friday.
The ground-based missile was fired at 11pm Pacific Time from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, in a “routine” activity “intended to demonstrate that the U.S. nuclear deterrent is safe, secure, reliable and effective,” according to the U.S. military.
The unarmed missile carried a test reentry vehicle, which splashed down in the vicinity of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, some 6,800 kilometers away.