North Korea army celebrates 75th founding anniversary with a huge military parade

North Korea on Wednesday(Feb 8) night held a large military parade showing off several Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) to mark the 75th founding anniversary of North Korea’s army.

The country’s Leader Kim Jong Un, accompanied by his wife and young daughter, presided over the parade.

The country’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the parade featured a variety of nuclear-capable weapons, including tactical nuclear missiles and ICBMs, which the state news agency described as crucial in supporting North Korea’s “power-to-power, all-out confrontation” against enemies.

The parade emphasised North Korea’s ability to face down its enemies “nuke for nuke, confrontation for confrontation!” KCNA said.

The huge display of military hardware comes after weeks of preparations involving large numbers of troops and civilians mobilised to glorify Kim’s rule and relentless push to cement his country’s status as a nuclear power.

NK News, which monitors events in North Korea, said that in addition to what appeared to be a new solid-fuel ICBM, the parade also featured at least 11 Hwasong-17 ICBMs. Just four Hwasong-17s had ever appeared at one time before during parades in 2020, which “suggests mass production of the new missile and heavy launchers is well underway”, NK News reported.

“This looks like an effort mainly to demonstrate new missile technology,” NK News said in a tweet.

North Korean military parades are closely watched by outside governments and experts as they often feature newly developed weapons the North intends to test or deploy.

Kim attended the event with his wife Ri Sol Ju and daughter Kim Ju Ae, in what was the young girl’s latest of recent public appearances. The North Korean leader was featured smiling and saluting from a balcony as thousands of troops lined up in a brightly illuminated Kim Il Sung Square, named after his grandfather and the nation’s founder.

Among the systems on display at the parade were the country’s largest-yet ICBM, the Hwasong-17, dubbed the “Monster Missile” by some, followed by what some analysts said could be a new solid-fuel ICBM.

Most of the country’s largest ballistic missiles use liquid fuel, which requires them to be loaded with propellant at their launch site in a time-consuming process. The use of solid fuel potentially offers greater mobility for missiles and reduces the amount of launch preparation time. All of the ICBMs North Korea has flight-tested since 2017 used liquid propellants.

Developing a solid-fuel ICBM has long been seen as a key goal for North Korea, as it could make its nuclear missiles harder to spot and destroy during a conflict. It is unclear how close the suspected new solid-fuel ICBM could be to testing.

Before the parade began, several waves of what appeared to be illuminated jets, turboprop aircraft and helicopters could be seen flying low in formation over the capital towards Kim Il Sung Square, according to videos seen by NK News. Several featured flares and fireworks were launched from the aircraft frame as they approached the square.