09 September 2023 , 10:19
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North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un put on a gross military display of rockets with his rarely-seen 10-year-old daughter as the special guest.
The paramilitary parade, in the capital, Pyongyang, featured rocket launchers pulled by trucks and tractors to celebrate North Korea’s 75th founding anniversary. China sent a delegation led by Vice Premier Liu Guozhong to the celebrations, while Russia sent a military song and dance group.
The supreme leader and his until-recently hidden daughter, Kim Ju Ae, sat together to watch the deadly weapons roll by. Photos show them smiling and talking as they watched the parade from leather chairs set up on Kim’s balcony in Kim Il Sung Square named after his state-founding grandfather.
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, centre right, with his daughter, centre left (AP)Since November, Kim Jong Un has been bringing his daughter — believed to be around 10 years old — to major public events involving the country’s military a few times a year. Analysts say Kim’s parading of his daughter is meant to send a statement to the world that he has no intention of voluntarily surrendering the nuclear weapons and missiles he sees as the strongest guarantee of his survival and the extension of his family’s dynastic rule.
South Korean media speculated that the lack of Russian government officials at the festivities in Pyongyang could be related to preparations for a summit between Kim and Putin, which Washington expects within the month. According to some US reports, it could happen as early as next week. North Korea has not confirmed any plans for Kim to visit Russia.
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"Whether or not a Putin-Kim summit soon follows, the United States is attempting to deter serious violations of international law by preemptively releasing intelligence", Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul told AP. If there is a major Russia-North Korea arms deal, it would breach numerous international sanctions.
Saturday’s parade was centred around paramilitary organisations and public security forces protecting Pyongyang, rather than the military units that handle his nuclear-capable weapons systems, which have been the focus of other parades this year.
Millions of North Koreans between the ages of 17 and 60 are listed as Worker-Peasant Red Guards, a national civil defence organization that could be loosely compared to military reserve forces of other countries. Saturday’s marches of the Red Guards included huge columns of motorcycles, anti-tank rockets towed by tractors and civilian-style trucks equipped with multiple rocket launchers.
In July, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Li Hongzhong visited a huge military parade in Pyongyang, where Kim rolled out his most powerful weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to target the U.S. mainland.