North Korea stages 70th anniversary parade
● Country holds back its most advanced missiles ahead of talks
North Korea staged a huge military parade yesterday to mark its 70th anniversary as a nation.
But the country held back its most advanced missiles and devoted nearly half of the Pyongyang parade to civilian efforts to build the economy.
The emphasis on the economy underlines leader Kim Jong Un’s new strategy of putting economic development at the forefront.
Mr Kim attended the morning parade but did not address the assembled crowd, which included the head of the Chinese parliament and highlevel delegations from countries that have friendly ties with the North.
Senior statesman Kim Yong Nam, the head of North Korea’s parliament, set the relatively softer tone for the event with an opening speech that emphasised the economic
0 The huge Pyongyang parade featured lots of goose-stepping units from all branches of the military
goals of the regime, not its nuclear might.
After a truncated parade featuring tanks, fewer than the usual number of missiles and lots of goose-stepping units from all branches of the mili-
tary, along with some students and others, the focus switched to civilian groups, ranging from nurses to construction workers, many with colourful floats beside them.
Although North Korea stages
military parades almost every year, and held one just before the Olympics began in South Korea in February this year, yesterday’s parade came at a particularly sensitive time.
Mr Kim’s effort to ease tensions with US 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 formally ending the Korean War.
With tensions once again on the rise, a parade featuring the missiles that so unnerved Mr Trump last year, and led to a dangerous volley of insults from both leaders, could have been seen as a deliberate provocation.
The North displayed its latest missilery in the February parade, however, and Washington hardly batted an eye.
Mr Kim is set to meet South Korean president Moon Jaein again in Pyongyang to discuss ways to break the deadlock over his nuclear weapons.
The “new line” of putting economic development first has been Mr Kim’s priority this year.
He claims to have perfected his nuclear arsenal enough to deter US aggression and 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 five-year hiatus.