NK Keeps Military Hardware Under Wraps
North Korea scaled down its military parade to celebrate the regime’s 55th anniversary on Tuesday (Sept. 9), showing off
only troops and not large military hardware.
According to Associated Press Television News, the North paraded about 20,000 soldiers across Kim Il-sung Square with a
million North Koreans attending the event at 9 a.m., but it did not field missiles or military vehicles as expected.
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il attended the ceremony and waved from a balcony to soldiers carrying rifles and grenade
launchers. But there was no official statement on the sensitive issue of nuclear weapons.
The communist nation was originally expected to introduce a new missile with a reported range of 3,000 kilometers during
the ceremony. South Korea, the United States and other interested countries have been keeping a close eye on the North’s
weapons technology, as the new missile is said to be capable of reaching Guam, a U.S. island in the Pacific, and Okinawa
in Japan.
The North’s scaling down of the parade was apparently in response to international concerns over the North’s belligerent
move that could jeopardize ongoing efforts to find a diplomatic solution to Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.
After the first round of six-way talks last month, the host China said all parties involved agreed to refrain from any
action that could worsen the current situation.
Marking the anniversary, North Korea on Tuesday held mass sporting events, torch rallies and concerts around the nation.