IRIA News

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was joined by senior Russian and Chinese delegates at a grand military parade marking a major war anniversary. The parade held in Pyongyang on July 27 night displayed some of the country’s most powerful nuclear missiles as well as new weapons and drones.

At the parade, Kim was joined by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese ruling party official Li Hongzhong. They talked, praised, and saluted as North Korean troops marched and weapons rolled at a brightly illuminated Kim Il Sung Square, named after Kim’s grandfather, the founder of North Korea.

The parade in the capital city of Pyongyang commemorated the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, celebrated in North Korea as “Victory Day”. The day marks the armistice that ended fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. In South Korea, the anniversary events took on a more solemn tone as President Yoon Suk Yeol visited a war cemetery in Busan to pay tribute to foreign troops who sacrificed their lives while fighting.

North Korea shows off new weapons at parade

The streets and stands were packed with tens of thousands of spectators, who cheered and waved national flags as soldiers marched and huge intercontinental ballistic missiles wheeled out on launcher trucks at the square.

Kim Jong Un, the supreme commander of the armed forces of the DPRK, reviewed North Korea’s latest nuclear-capable missiles and new attack drones at the military parade.

The parade began with warm-up events that featured ceremonial flights of newly developed surveillance and attack drones, which were unveiled this week at an arms exhibition. The event unveiled “strategic unmanned reconnaissance aircraft and multi-purpose attack drones newly developed and produced” according to the state-run media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The parade included columns of mechanized units, main tanks, as well as tactical and long-range cruise missile units and the latest weaponry, demonstrating DPRK’s strong combat force. The parade featured North Korea’s Hwasong-17 and Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the KCNA reported.

North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam described the parade as a celebration of the country’s “great victory” against “U.S. imperialist aggression forces and groups of its satellite states.” In his speech, he also condemned the United States for expanding military exercises with South Korea, which the North portrays as invasion rehearsals. Kang warned that “if they attempt military confrontation as now, the exercise of our state’s armed forces will go beyond the scope of the right to defense for the United States of America and the ROK (South Korea)”.

North Korea has faced UN sanctions since 2006 due to its missile and nuclear programs, including a prohibition on the development of ballistic missiles.

Two weeks ago, Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s sister, accused the U.S. of sending spy planes inside North Korea’s exclusive economic zone. She warned of serious consequences if the U.S. continued such activities. However, South Korea’s military and U.S. Pentagon brushed aside Pyongyang’s accusations of airspace violations.

Amid rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, the recent visits by high-level Russian and Chinese delegations will likely be seen as an opportunity by the Kim regime to showcase its global significance and demonstrate that the country is not isolated despite years of sanctions imposed by Washington.

Defense Exhibition in Pyongyang

During the visit, North Korean leader Kim personally gave the Russian defense minister a tour of a massive arms exhibition, which featured North Korea’s largest intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as new unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Shoigu and Kim also shared a luncheon in which Kim vowed solidarity with the Russian people and its military. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hosted Russia’s defense chief Sergei Shoigu at a defense exhibition in Pyongyang. The DPRK military showed off its new drones and nuclear missiles at the arms expo.
📷: Rodong Sinmun pic.twitter.com/aMGILYWtWG

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Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his country’s close friendship with North Korea and vowed to step up economic, political and security ties in a speech letter shared with President Kim Jong Un by Russian delegates. Putin specifically mentioned Soviet pilots, whom he claimed “carried out tens of thousands of combat flights” while “fighting shoulder to shoulder with patriots of Korea.”

“The historic experience of combative friendship has noble values, and is serving as a reliable foundation to further develop the connection between Russia and North Korea” Putin said, according to KCNA. Without sharing details of the support, Putin hailed Pyongyang’s support in what he called Russia’s “special military operation against Ukraine”.

Chinese delegation in Pyongyang

Senior Chinese official Li, vice chairman of China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee, is the most senior Chinese official to visit DPRK since the pandemic began. Li, who held key positions, delivered a personal letter from China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, to Kim Jong Un. China’s new ambassador to North Korea, Wang Yajun, also attended the 70th-anniversary banquet. 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry emphasized the longstanding friendly exchanges between the two countries during a press briefing this week. “Having a high-level Chinese delegation visit the DPRK and mark the occasion shows the high importance both sides attach to our bilateral ties,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.