North Korea holds military parade without showing intercontinental ballistic missiles
Although North Korea stages military parades almost every year, Sunday’s parade comes at a particularly sensitive time
North Korea did not display intercontinental ballistic missiles that can target the United States at a military parade on Sunday, signalling leader Kim Jong-un’s desire to refrain from provoking US President Donald Trump for the resumption of denuclearisation talks.
At the parade staged on the 70th anniversary of the country’s founding, North Korea also emphasised its friendship with China, with many political analysts saying Kim is willing to ensure support from Beijing to promote negotiations with Washington.
Kim, clad in a black Mao-style suit, reviewed the military parade from a balcony overlooking Kim Il-sung Square, the central Pyongyang area named after his grandfather and North Korea’s founder. However, he did not use the occasion to deliver a public speech.
At the end of the parade, Kim and Li Zhanshu, the third-highest ranking official in the ruling Communist Party of China, raised hands together and waved to the audience from the balcony.
Sunday’s military parade was the first since Kim and Trump held their historic summit meeting in June in Singapore. All eyes were on whether ICBMs would be rolled out at the parade.
Although Kim promised Trump in June to achieve “complete” denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in return for security guarantees from Washington, scepticism has been lingering about North Korea’s intention to implement concrete measures toward it.