North Korea, backed by nuclear weapons, demonstrated the might of its missile industry at a nighttime parade by exhibiting more intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) than ever before.
On Wednesday, North Korea celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of its army by holding the eagerly awaited nighttime military parade in Pyongyang, according to state news agency KCNA.
The head of state, Kim Jong Un, came with his daughter, who is believed to take the role of his father in the hereditary regime in the future.
North Korea shows military might
According to KCNA, the parade also included tactical nuclear units and the ICBMs demonstrated North Korea’s “greatest” power of nuclear attacks.
The largest ICBM in North Korea, the Hwasong-17, was depicted in as many as 11 images issued by official media. It is thought that the Hwasong-17 has the range to launch a nuclear warhead almost anywhere in the world.
Last year saw the Hwasong-17’s initial testing.
The Hwasong-17s were followed by what some analysts believed to be a canister-launched prototype or mockup of a new solid-fuel ICBM.
The majority of the largest ballistic missiles in the nation use liquid fuel, necessitating a lengthy propellant loading operation at the launch site.
Long considered a top priority for the nation, developing a solid-fuel ICBM might make its nuclear missiles more evasive to detection and destruction in a fight.
Senior Fellow in the United States–based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Ankit Panda posted on Twitter, saying, “This is cumulatively more ICBM launchers than we’ve ever seen before at a North Korean parade.”
The quantity of warheads loaded on such ICBMs, he continued, might be sufficient to overwhelm the current missile defense systems of the United States.
According to Panda, the canisterized ICBMs looked different from the ones displayed in a 2017 parade.
Despite resolutions and sanctions passed by the UN Security Council, the nation has continued to improve its ballistic missile programme by launching bigger and more sophisticated missiles.
Leif-Eric Easley, professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said, “This time, Kim Jong Un let North Korea’s expanding tactical and long-range missile forces speak for themselves. The message Pyongyang wants to send internationally, demonstrating its capabilities to deter and coerce, will likely come in the form of solid-fuel missile tests and detonation of a miniaturized nuclear device.”
How soon the alleged new missile might undergo testing is unknown. At the parades, North Korea has occasionally put on display mockups.
