Parade in Pyongyang without ballistic missiles
North Korea held a military parade in Pyongyang to mark the 73rd anniversary of the DPRK. This ceremony went without demonstrating missiles and heavy equipment, it was limited to the passage of lightly armed militia fighters. On the other hand, spectators saw the detachment of horses, service dogs and a tractor with rocket launchers.
Photo: kcna.kp.
“At nine o'clock on September 9, the Secretary-General of the Korean Workers' Party (WPK), Chairman of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), dear Comrade Kim Jong-un, arrived on the podium.” square military parade, “says the North Korean news agency TsTAK about the creation of the leader. “Stormy cries at that moment” Hooray! “North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, dressed in a civilian light beige suit, appeared on the podium in Kim Il Sung Square and waved to a huge crowd. People in masks.
As CNN noted, North Korea experts pointed out the fact that Kim Jong-un looks thinner in recent shots.
“It's amazing how healthy Kim Jong-un looks in those photos yesterday,” said Martin Williams of the 38 North project at Stimson Center. “But it looks like this – and there are theories – it looks much better than it did a few months ago.” Korean side of Kim Yo Jong. About a month ago, she loudly condemned Seoul's “treacherous” behavior in connection with joint South Korean-US military exercises.
As noted by CNN, available photographs from the Pyongyang show on Thursday did not show North Korea's missile arsenal, while new or modified versions of North Korean missiles are often demonstrated at military parades in the DPRK.
For example, during a parade in January, the North Korean military, according to analysts, demonstrated a new ballistic missile fired from a submarine (SLBM). And last October, North Korea unveiled a weapon at a military parade, which analysts have called one of the largest ballistic missiles in the world.
Importantly, the North Korean news agency CTAC calls the event a “military parade of civilians” and security forces. “
Photo: kcna.kp.
The procession began with a command car with the commander of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Militia, after which the accompanying pillars with a strong walk entered Kim Il Sung Square. In front of them was a column of a section of party members of Pyongyang.
“The Pyongyang Workers 'and Peasants' Red Militia column, the civilian civilian forces of the capital, and the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Militia columns of the provinces of North and South Pyongyang marched across the square with a thick tread. defenders of the border crossings of the homeland and the capital “, – shows the CTAK parade.
Uniform militiamen were armed with machine guns and a grenade launcher during the parade.
The “Workers 'and Peasants' Red Militia” deserves special mention. It is the largest civilian paramilitary self-defense organization in the DPRK. Its population is estimated at 5 million. The militia reports to the National Defense Commission and the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces, as well as to the Korean Workers' Party. It is organized at the level of provinces, cities, towns and villages and consists of brigades, battalions, companies and platoons.
Photo: kcna.kp.
The militia is armed with small arms, mortars and anti-aircraft guns. Sometimes multi-missile towed missile systems manufactured by DPRK (Type 75) and Ural M-62 motorcycles are available to militias.
Militias from various provinces were marched by columns from the Ministry of Railways and the Koryo Air Fleet Headquarters, the Kim Chak Metallurgical Association and the Ryongha Hichon Engineering Plant, the Hinnam Chemical Fertilizer and the Chollima Steel Association …
Separately, there were soldiers of the “extremely anti-epidemic column” and the column of the Ministry of Health. Footage from the show shows rows of protesters dressed in orange personal protective suits and gas masks.
Many cultural and artistic personalities as well as athletes marched into the parade.
A mobile special department of the Public Safety Assistance Units (VOOB) roamed the horse formation in the horse formation. A search service column with service dogs marched across the square.
The parade was attended by motorized columns of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Militia.
According to the CTAC, agricultural machinery operators rode on tractors, “with deadly weapons that will unleash a hurricane of fire on aggressors and their henchmen in an emergency.” Judging by the photos, we are talking about rocket launchers attached to tanks, somewhat reminiscent of the famous Katyushas.
A column of fire trucks completed a military parade.
During the parade, planes flew over Pyongyang, fired flares and paratroopers were dropped from planes in the night sky, writes Nodong Sinmun.
International experts trying to explain the “light” nature of the military parade in the North Korean capital say that Kim Jong-un is perhaps experiencing the most difficult period during his time in power, when North Korea must isolate itself from the outside world to prevent coronavirus. and there is no prospect of lifting international sanctions. In addition, the United Nations Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently announced that Pyongyang appears to have launched its plutonium reprocessing reactor in Yongbyon, calling it a development of “serious concern,” and North Korean leader Kim Yo Jong's sister and key adviser strongly urged withdrawal of US troops from the Korean Peninsula in August.
“We must not overestimate the signals of foreign policy or the negotiation of this show, which is primarily aimed at domestic political audiences,” said Leif-Eric Easley, associate professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. – North Korean society is under great stress as a result of the Kim regime's decision. The procession is therefore designed to demonstrate strength and increase morale in the quarantine. “