NORTH KOREA ANNIVERSARY PARADE PUTS MISSILES ON BACK BURNER
▶ Advanced weaponry absent as Kim pushes economic progress
North Korea rolled out its latest tanks and best-trained goose-stepping units through Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang yesterday to mark the 70th anniversary of its foundation.
The military parade, however, did not feature any of its advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles. Instead, almost half of the event was devoted to civilian efforts to build the domestic economy.
This underscored leader Kim Jong-un’s new strategy of pushing economic development to the fore.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans waved coloured plastic bouquets as they poured into the square. Pyongyang residents have trained for months for the anniversary event and held up the bouquets to spell out words and slogans visible from the VIP viewing area.
Mr Kim attended the morning parade, but did not address the crowd, which included the head of the Chinese parliament and high-level delegations from countries that have friendly ties with the North.
At the end of the two-hour event, he strolled to the edge of the balcony with the Chinese special envoy Li Zhanshu, who is the third-ranking member of China’s Communist Party. The two held up their joined hands to symbolise the countries’ traditionally close ties, although the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping could indicate Beijing still has some reservations about Mr Kim’s initiatives.
Senior statesman Kim Yongnam, head of North Korea’s parliament, set a softer tone for the event with an opening speech emphasising the economic goals of the regime, rather than nuclear might. He called on the military to be ready to help build the economy.
After a truncated parade featuring tanks and some of the country’s largest artillery, fewer missiles than in previous years and lots of goose-stepping units from all branches of the military, the focus switched to civilian groups, from nurses and students to construction workers, many with colourful floats beside them.
The combination of military and civilian sections is a familiar format for North Korean parades.
The past two big anniversaries of the country’s foundation, in 2008 and 2013, did not feature the Korean People’s Army, only the civil defence units, officially called Worker-Peasant Red Guards.
Although North Korea stages military parades almost every year, and held one just before the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February this year, yesterday’s event came at a particularly sensitive time.
Mr Kim’s efforts to ease tensions with United States President Donald Trump have stalled since their June summit in Singapore. Both sides are now insisting on a different starting point. Washington wants Mr Kim to commit to denuclearisation first, but Pyongyang wants its security guaranteed and a peace agreement to formally end the Korean War.
With tensions again on the rise, a parade featuring the missiles that so unnerved Mr Trump last year and led to a volley of insults between both leaders, could have been seen as a deliberate provocation. The North also refrained from televising the event live, although North Korean media were out in force to film it, using booms and drones with cameras.
Residents also lined the streets of the capital to cheer and applaud convoys carrying the troops after their parade duties.
Soon after the celebrations ended, Mr Kim was due to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang to discuss ways to break the impasse over the North’s nuclear weapons.
The policy of putting economic development first has been Mr Kim’s top priority this year. He claims to have perfected his nuclear arsenal enough to deter US aggression and can now devote his resources to raising the nation’s standard of living.
This year’s celebrations also mark the revival of North Korea’s Mass Games after a fiveyear hiatus. The games involve tens of thousands of people holding up placards or dancing in precise unison and are intended as a display of national unity.
This year’s spectacle – tickets range from US$100 (Dh367) to more than $800 per seat – also has an economic theme. An unofficial translation of its name this year is “Our Shining Nation”.