North flaunts drones, ICBMS to Russian and Chinese officials at parade
Russia’s defense minister and a Chinese Politburo member were North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s guests of honor at a nighttime military parade featuring long-range missiles and drones in Pyongyang on Thursday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
In photos released by the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Friday, Kim stood on a dais overlooking the parade in Kim Il Sung Square, flanked by Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defense minister, and Li Hongzhong, who serves as both vice chairman on the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo.
Both officials as well as their respective national delegations were invited as the North’s first official post-pandemic guests to join celebrations marking the signing of the armistice on July 27, 1953, which the regime observes as a national holiday.
Thursday marked the 70th anniversary of the end of armed hostilities in the war, which began with a North Korean invasion of South Korea on June 25, 1950. The war ended in a stalemate after U.S.-led United Nations forces repelled the initial invasion, but were forced back from the North by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army.
The parade, which the North used to underline its claim of victory in the war, featured the regime’s latest hardware, including new aerial drones that closely resemble U.S. unmanned surveillance aircraft Global Hawk, Haeil underwater drones that the regime tested in March and April, and the regime’s much-touted Hwasong-17 liquid-fuel and Hwasong-18 solid-fuel ICBMs.
Both China and Russia are permanent veto-wielding members of the Security Council. The two countries have repeatedly vetoed or tabled efforts by the United States and other council members in recent years to pass additional sanctions against the North for its continued defiance of previous Security Council resolutions.
The state news agency also described the Hwasong-18 ICBMs as the North’s “most powerful and crucial means” to “overwhelmingly” respond to purported nuclear threats from the regime’s enemies.
“Russia's support for these unlawful weapons programs by blocking additional action at the Security Council, by participating in events in Pyongyang, celebrating these weapons and failing to crack down on DPRK’s sanction evasion activities — all of this just highlights how detrimental it has become to preserving international peace and security,” Patel said at a press briefing.
“I will also note that, as we have previously said, we believe that Beijing has influence over Pyongyang and we hope that it will use that influence to encourage Pyongyang to return to dialogue and refrain from destabilizing activities,” he added.
BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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