Pyongyang parades military might
• Nuclear-armed North shows off its intercontinental ballistic missiles on the eve of the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea
North Korea staged a military parade in Pyongyang on Thursday to mark the 70th anniversary of its armed forces, putting its intercontinental ballistic missiles on show just a day before the Winter Olympic Games open in South Korea.
Nuclear-armed North Korea is on an Olympics-linked charm offensive, sending a troupe of performers, hundreds of cheerleaders and the sister of leader Kim Jong-un to South Korea.
Regiments of soldiers goosestepped in formation through Kim Il-sung Square, followed by trucks, artillery, tanks and four giant Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as a band forming the Korean word for “victory”.
Unlike with the North’s last parade in April 2017 state television did not show the event live, instead airing it hours later.
Fireworks went off as leader Kim Jong-un took his place on the rostrum to watch the display, along with his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and the ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-nam — who will head Pyongyang’s delegation to the Olympics on Friday.
“We have become capable of showcasing our stature as a world-class military power to the world,” said Kim.
The military should remain on high alert to ensure that invaders could not violate the North’s sovereignty “even by 0.001mm”, he said.
Analysts say that with the dual approach, the North is looking to normalise its status as a “de facto nuclear state” and could be trying to weaken sanctions against it or drive a wedge between the South and its ally the US.
North Korea is under multiple sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which have enabled it to develop rockets capable of reaching the US mainland.
Pyongyang announced in January that it was changing the date of its military commemoration from April 25 to February 8 — the day before the opening ceremony of the Games in Pyeongchang, just 80km south of the demilitarised zone, which divides the peninsula.
North Korea normally invites hundreds of foreign journalists to show off the spectacle to the world but did not do so this time, possibly an indication that it wanted to control how the display is seen.
“It looks like North Korea had potential reaction from the international community in mind and toned down the scale and message of the event a lot,” said Lim Eul-chul, a North Korean studies professor at Kyungnam University.
The North’s high-level delegation for the Olympics is being led by its ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam, the highest-level official to visit the South, and also includes Kim Jong-un’s sister Kim Yo-jong — an increasingly powerful and influential figure.
They are due in the South Friday and Seoul’s presidential Blue House said they would have lunch with President Moon Jae-in the following day.
US Vice-President Mike Pence arrived in the South on Thursday and is also scheduled to attend the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang on Friday.
That could put him in the same room as Kim Yong-nam, raising the prospect of senior figures from the two sides meeting after a year in which their leaders traded personal insults and threats of war. Senior Pyongyang foreign ministry official Cho Yong-sam said the North had “no intention” of meeting US authorities during the trip. But his comments did not rule out a meeting — and nor has Pence, who lambasted the North on Thursday but added: “There may be a possibility for any kind of an encounter with North Koreans”, whether informal or a meeting. “We’ll have to wait and see how that unfolds.”
The Winter Olympics have triggered a rapid rapprochement on the peninsula, although analysts warn that warmer relations may not last long beyond the Games.
Tension soared in 2017 as the North carried out multiple weapons tests, including the Hwasong-15 capable of reaching the US mainland.
For months Pyongyang ignored Seoul’s entreaties to take part in a “peace Olympics” until Kim indicated his willingness to do so in his New Year speech. That set off a rapid series of meetings in which the two Koreas agreed to march together at the opening ceremony and form a unified women’s ice hockey team.
But critics in the South say Seoul has made too many concessions to Pyongyang, and demonstrators protested the arrival of the art troupe earlier this week.
US charge d’affaires to Seoul Marc Knapper dismissed concerns about a North Korean charm offensive towards the South. “The more North Koreans that can come here and see how successful the South has been the better,” he said. “It sends a strong message about what happens when leaders make the right choices about how their society will develop.”