Kim gets his kicks but rockets are absent at N Korea’s 70th birthday bash
Anniversary of country’s founding takes emphasis off military matters in sign of reconciliation to West
NORTH KOREA marked the 70th anniversary of the country’s founding yesterday with a parade of soldiers, tanks and military hardware, but it held back on displaying its interconti- nental ballistic missiles, believed to be capable of hitting the US.
The parade was considerably more low-key than the bombast seen in previous years, and much of the mass public event was devoted to lauding efforts to strengthen the local economy.
The switch in focus, and absence of the usual jingoism, was interpreted as a conciliatory gesture by leader Kim Jong-un towards Washington.
Donald Trump saluted the decision to hold a pared-back ceremony.
“This is a big and very positive statement from North Korea. Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will both prove everyone wrong!” he tweeted.
Yesterday morning’s parade came amid stalled diplomatic talks with the US over the issue of denuclearisation.
It had been feared that the appearance of advanced missiles would have been viewed as a provocation by the Trump administration and could have destabilised the uneasy detente that has existed since the two leaders met at a historic June summit in Singapore.
Washington and Pyongyang have reached an impasse over the starting point for disarmament. The US wants Kim to proceed with denuclearisation first, but North Korea wants its security guaranteed and a peace agreement to formally end the Korean War of 195053. However, the stalemate has been showing signs of softening recently.
On Friday, Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One that a personal letter from Kim was going to be delivered soon. “I think it’s going to be a positive letter,” he predicted.
“Kim and Trump are trading ges-
tures to appease the US Congress and show to the world that the deal is on. And, indeed, the deal is on, but Kim will not fully denuclearise,” Loretta Napoleoni, a North Korea analyst, told The Daily Telegraph.
Analysts have repeatedly warned that despite the current thaw on the Korean Peninsula, Kim has never committed to fully surrendering his nuclear weapons.
Jeffrey Lewis, a non-proliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, tweeted that the understated nature of the Pyongyang parade indicated that North Korea “wants a version of the Israel deal”.
He explained: “They don’t test nuclear weapons or show them off at parades; we pretend they don’t exist.”
According to reporters at the scene, the parade was split into two sections, civilian and military. The military segment featured soldiers wearing uniforms from different periods of national history. It then switched to civilian groups, ranging from nurses to construction workers, alongside colourful floats. Kim surveyed the procession from a balcony in Kim Il Sung square, at times locking hands with Li Zhanshu, a senior envoy sent by Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.
Foreign delegations from Russia, Syria, Vietnam and African nations reflected Kim’s concerted push this year to cultivate a more statesmanlike image. The French actor Gérard Depardieu was also a guest.
In a break from recent tradition, Kim did not address the crowd. Instead Kim Yong-nam, the country’s ceremonial head of state, told the audience that North Korea had achieved status as a military power, and would now pursue efforts to strengthen its economy.
The anniversary celebrations also mark the revival of North Korea’s iconic mass games after a five-year hiatus. The games involve tens of thousands of people performing precisely choreographed dancing in a symbol of national unity.
This year’s spectacle also has a strong economic theme.