North Korea's military parade never materialized

Pyongyang residents cheered a military parade on Sep. 10, 2021, in the streets leading to Kim Il Sung Square. [YONHAP]

North Korea did not hold a military parade expected on Sunday.

The military parade was expected to be held at midnight Sunday for the anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army (KPRA). Lights were lit ahead of the event around Kim Il Sung Square but the parade did not happen.

The South Korean government and other analysts had expected a parade on the square due to activity around Mirim Airport in Pyongyang and the fact that North Korea had foregone celebrations of the 110th anniversary of the birth of founding leader Kim Il Sung last week.

Why the parade did not take place was unknown.

According to North Korea, the KPRA was established by Kim Il Sung on April 25, 1932, for anti-Japanese activities, and is the basis for the North Korean military. Kim was the grandfather of current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies detected preparations for a parade around Mirim Airport and Kim Il Sung Square.

“We expected the military parade to take place at midnight on Sunday,” a South Korean government official said. “We are analyzing whether they have canceled the parade altogether or delayed it.”

The official pointed out that the weather around Pyongyang could have been a reason. “Pyongyang had thick clouds and some rain even into early Monday morning,” he noted. Another possibility for the cancelation could have been “due to the fact that South and North Korean leaders exchanged letters last week.”

North Korea has delayed key national events due to weather in the past. In October 2015, it delayed a military parade for the 70th anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea from the morning to the afternoon due to rain.

If weather was the problem, the parade could be held Monday or Tuesday.

According to an editorial in the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the founding date of the KPRA is “a historical day that has great significance in the construction of the armed forces and the fulfillment of the Juche revolution.” Juche, meaning self-reliance, is the state ideology of North Korea.

Meanwhile, NK News, an American news organization specializing in North Korea, said Sunday that it had detected signs that North Korea had recently operated passenger flights from Sunan Airport in Pyongyang to bring local officials from other parts of the country to Pyongyang and that large numbers of officials were staying at various accommodations in the North Korean capital.

“If you look at past cases, North Korea has had military parades at various times and reported it afterwards, rather than holding them uniformly at a specific time," said Cha Duk-chul, deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification. "We are maintaining close contact with relevant organizations and monitoring the situation carefully.”

North Korea’s last military parade was held in September 2021, when no new weapons were unveiled. In a parade in October 2020, North Korea displayed weapons that experts say were likely to be the world’s largest intercontinental ballistic missile.

BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO [kjdnational@joongang.co.kr]