North Korea holds parade without ballistic missiles

Xi congratulates Kim on anniversary

FE Team | Published: September 09, 2018 21:36:28

Korean People's Army (KPA) soldiers marching during a mass rally on Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang on Sunday — AFP

PYONGYANG, Sept 09 (Agencies): North Korea did not display any intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at a military parade to mark its 70th anniversary.
It is also unclear whether leader Kim Jong-un made a speech at the event.
North Korea staged a big military parade on Sunday to mark its 70th anniversary as a nation but held back its most advanced missiles and devoted nearly half of the parade to civilian efforts to build the domestic economy.
The strong emphasis on the economy underscores leader Kim Jong Un's new strategy of putting economic development front and centre.
Kim attended the morning parade but did not address the assembled crowd, which included the head of the Chinese parliament and high-level delegations from countries that have friendly ties with the North.
Senior statesman Kim Yong Nam, the head of North Korea's parliament, set the relatively softer tone for the event with an opening speech that emphasised the economic goals of the regime, not its nuclear might.
After a truncated parade featuring tanks, fewer than the usual number of missiles and lots of goose-stepping units from all branches of the military, along with some students and others, the focus switched to civilian groups, ranging from nurses to construction workers, many with colorful floats beside them.
Although North Korea stages military parades almost every year, and held one just before the Olympics began in South Korea in February this year, Sunday's parade came at a particularly sensitive time.
Kim's effort to ease tensions with President Donald Trump have stalled since their June summit in Singapore. Both sides are now insisting on a different starting point. Washington wants Kim to commit to denuclearization first, but Pyongyang wants its security guaranteed and a peace agreement formally ending the Korean War.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has congratulated Kim Jong Un and North Korea on the 70th anniversary of the country's founding, hailing once again what he has called the "new historical period" that North Korea has entered.
China has portrayed itself as a stable partner should the North step up efforts to pursue economic development.