SEOUL: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un oversaw a major military parade showcasing a record number of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles, state media reported on Thursday, including what analysts said was possibly a new solid-fuelled ICBM.

The parade on Wednesday to mark the 75th founding anniversary of North Korea’s armed forces featured fireworks, military bands and uniformed soldiers marching in unison to spell out “2.8” — the date of the celebration — and “75”, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

Kim attended the parade with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and daughter Ju Ae, video on state media showed. He wore the black coat and fedora combination favoured by his grandfather, North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il Sung.

Images showed Kim flanked by his top generals in Pyongyang’s central Kim Il Sung Square, saluting as troops and missile units paraded past while patriotic music played.

The weapons on show included at least 10 of the North’s largest Hwasong-17 ICBMs, as well as vehicles apparently designed to carry a solid-fuelled ICBM, Seoul-based specialist site NK News reported.

North Korea has long sought to develop a solid-fuel ICBM because such missiles are easier to store and transport, are more stable and quicker to prepare for launch, and thus harder for the United States to detect and destroy pre-emptively.

KCNA said the crowd broke into “enthusiastic cheers” when the ICBMs appeared in the square, and that the parade also featured “tactical nuclear weapons operation units”.

North Korea stages military parades to mark important holidays and events and are closely monitored by observers for clues about the reclusive regime’s progress on its banned ballistic and nuclear weapons.

The parade showcased the “tremendous nuclear strike capability of the DPRK”, KCNA said, referring to North Korea by its official name.

Commercial satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies on Wednesday night showed a large North Korean flag and thousands of people assembled at Kim Il Sung square.

Analysts said the scale and scope of the weaponry on display showed advances that represented a challenge to the United States. “They’ve shown more ICBMs in the latest parade than they’ve ever shown before, consistent with a longstanding directive from Kim Jong Un on mass producing nuclear weapons and delivery systems,” US-based analyst Ankit Panda told.

This is an issue, he said, because Washington has planned its homeland missile defence system to deal with a “limited” missile threat from North Korea.

“North Korea has now demonstrated that their nuclear forces are far from ‘limited’,” Mr Panda said.

Other analysts said Pyongyang was sending a clear message by parading more of Mr Kim’s most advanced Hwasong-17 missiles.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2023