Seoul, (Samajweekly) North Korea appeared to have staged a massive military parade in Pyongyang on Saturday to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.
“Signs have been detected that North Korea conducted a military parade at the Kim Il-sung square at dawn by mobilizing a large number of equipment and personnel,” Yonhap News Agency quoted the JCS statement as saying.
“South Korean and the US intelligence authorities have been analyzing (the event), including the possibility that it could be the main event, (not a rehearsal).”
“We are analyzing details of the weaponry that Pyongyang displayed today,” a JCS officer was quoted as saying in the statement.
“No unusual movements by the North Korean military have been detected.”
The timing of the parade was yet to be confirmed and it was not known if leader Kim Jong-un attended it and also the kind of weapons that were being displayed.
In his New Year’s message, Kim Jong-un had pledged to show off “new strategic weapons”, including a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).
The North marks every fifth and 10th anniversary with larger-scale events, such as military provocations, including missile launches and parades of troops, newly developed strategic weapons and other military hardware, according to the Yonhap News Agency reported.
The North’s state-media and the Korean Central Broadcasting Station have also not reported on the parade.
The North last aired a military parade live in April 2017, when it showcased a new ICBM and diverse types of weapons.
