Military vehicles carry missiles during military parade in Pyongyang, April 15, 2017
Seoul:
North Koreans wearing medical masks gathered in the capital Pyongyang, state media reported this week, ahead of what is expected to be a large military parade on Saturday, with possibly the country’s last ballistic missiles.
The holiday marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, and the events include art and industry exhibitions, a light show, monument tours and ceremonies to mark the completion of the construction projects.
Officials in South Korea and the United States say North Korea could use the parade to show off a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
“North Korea may unveil new strategic weapons, such as new intercontinental ballistic missiles or ballistic missiles launched by submarines, to attract attention at a time when its economic achievements have been slow,” said the Southern Unification Ministry, which manages relations with the North, said Thursday.
Unification Minister Lee In-young told lawmakers introducing a new missile could be a “low-intensity show of force” ahead of the US presidential election that would be less provocative than a nuclear launch or test .
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has not presented an ICBM in a parade since he first met US President Donald Trump in 2018, but their talks have stalled and Pyongyang has reported growing impatience with Washington .
“The presentation of new ICBMs would mean that North Korea is stepping out of this strategy and may indicate that North Korea will resume long-range missile testing,” said Jeffrey Lewis, missile researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies .
State media showed photos of large crowds of delegates and other visitor masks as they arrived for the holiday events.
North Korea has not reported any confirmed cases of the coronavirus, but the government has imposed strict border controls and quarantine measures, and analysts say an outbreak could be devastating for the economically and politically isolated country.
“Such an event is extremely risky as if only a few people were positive for COVID-19 in the crowd, they could create a deadly super-spreader-type event,” said Harry Kazianis, senior director of Korean studies at the Center. for the National. Interest in Washington.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
