[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]State media stated on Thursday that North Korea’s Kim Jong Un presided over a significant military display that featured a record number of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), including what observers speculated would be a brand-new solid-fueled ICBM.
The official Korean Central News Agency said that troops in uniform marched in unison to spell out “2.8” — the celebration date — and “75” during the parade on Wednesday to commemorate the 75th founding anniversary of North Korea’s armed forces.
According to a video on official media, Kim joined his wife Ri Sol Ju and daughter Ju Ae for the procession. He wore the black coat and fedora that his grandfather, North Korea’s first leader Kim Il Sung, used to wear.
Images showed Kim saluting as troops and missile units paraded past while patriotic music played in Pyongyang’s central Kim Il Sung Square, backed by his top generals. At least ten of the North’s largest Hwasong-17 ICBMs were on display, along with vehicles that appeared to be built to transport an ICBM with solid fuel, according to the Seoul-based NK News website.
Since solid-fuel ICBMs are more portable, stable, and rapid to prepare for launch, they are more difficult for the United States to find and preemptively destroy. This is why North Korea has long sought to develop them. When the ICBMs appeared in the square, the crowd reportedly erupted in “enthusiastic shouts,” and the procession also included “tactical nuclear weapons operation units,” according to KCNA.
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