World News – GB – North Korea gears up for ‘biggest military parade’

North Korea is gearing up for what is expected to be the biggest military parade in its history Thousands of soldiers have been training for months to ensure every step is taken with precision and that every fervent cry of worship will be heard by Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un

These events are often ostentatious formal displays of military might to show a dedicated people paying homage to their leader in closely supervised goose-foot exercises. Mistakes are not tolerated

But these parades can also be part of the provocation A chance to show off new missiles and weaponry despite strict economic sanctions

The state has not featured any ballistic missiles in its parades since Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un held their first summit in 2018

Talks between the two sides collapsed in Hanoi last February without a deal, and North Korea continued to test a number of new short-range ballistic missiles

This October 10 event to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party comes just weeks before the US presidential election So will North Korea use it to argue a point and prove that it still has weapons capable of striking the United States?

It’s definitely going to be big, according to the editor of Daily NK, a Seoul-based website with paid sources in the North

Lee Sang Yong told me that as early as March Pyongyang ordered its military to mobilize 32,000 soldiers. It has grown so big that the site where the soldiers practice had to be expanded

« Pyongyang Mirim Airport now has two new roads and 10 new buildings Therefore, I think it is likely that we will see intercontinental ballistic missiles [ICBM] or ballistic missiles launched by submarines [ SLBM] on display at the parade this time, « he said.

« In addition, 600 students and researchers from Kim Il-sung University will also participate This is not an insignificant number This university is where they develop new talent for missile development By bringing them to parade or exhibiting them, North Korea may be trying to instill pride and respect for missile development talent »

Jeongmin Kim, analyst at NK News, said North Korea does not always use these events to prove a point to the outside world

« We have to remember that often – for a hereditary dictatorship in particular – they have to constantly prove their legitimacy to rule in front of their national audience

« So October 10 will also be aiming for exactly that: trying to show its people, with dazzling parades with inspiring propaganda slogans, that they are ‘fine’, despite everything that is happening this year

« Of course, precedents point to the possibility of Kim Jong-un or other senior officials giving a speech that could involve a message to the outside world, such as how they are not waiting for sanctions relief more and will focus on «  autonomy  » « 

As some watch over new missiles on display, well-being of 25 million North Koreans is growing concern

2020 has been a bad year for most countries, but for North Korea it has the potential to be devastating

« I have heard that the number of orphans and homeless street children in the North has increased this year, » Lee Sang Yong said

« Even though we can’t even imagine it here in South Korea, there are people in the North who are dying and starving »

The state closed its borders with the outside world in January to prevent a Covid 19 epidemic from spreading from neighboring China

Authorities reportedly issued « shoot to kill » orders along the border and created a buffer zone to prevent anyone from entering the country

Diplomatic sources told me earlier this year that stocks of PPE and other essential medical supplies, including vaccines, have piled up at the border with China, unable to pass

North Korea claims to have had no cases of Covid-19, but Kim Jong-un continues to hold high-level meetings to ensure strict restrictions remain in place

The North Korean people are now more than ever cut off from the outside world Even movement between provinces has been limited

« Land, sea and air It’s a complete shutdown of people and materials, » said M Lee

« Unless you are a military or high-ranking officer, no one travels inside North Korea Quarantine measures against Covid-19 are so strict

« North Korean economy has come to a standstill Smugglers and petty traders at the border wondered why the regime was risking the fate of the economy if there was no Covid-19 in the country « 

Trade with its main ally, China, has fallen by almost 70% in the first eight months of this year, compared to last year

The impoverished state has also been hit by extreme weather conditions in recent months, and Korean public television spends its afternoons showing « heroic » efforts to overcome the damage caused by several typhoons

Kim Jong-un has now ordered a nationwide campaign to try to revive the struggling economy, describing it as an « 80-day battle »

In short, it means more work for North Koreans, extra hours in the fields or factories, and extra work in their towns and villages The more they struggle, the more they will appear loyal to local leaders. on state television is that of « self-sufficiency »

In the south, farms across the country are harvesting rice But it is unclear if this is happening in the north

It’s difficult to get a clear idea of ​​the severity of the state’s harvests, but with 11 million people in the country considered food insecure, even a small number of fields ravaged by the rain can reach thousands of hungry people

We pass white sandy beaches flanked by high barbed wire The bright blue sky gives us a crystal clear view of the mountains to the north Some checkpoints are visible on the peaks

From here curious South Koreans love to scan the North It’s as close as it gets

Pyongyang radically cut off all communication with Seoul in June and blew up the inter-Korean liaison office

Earlier this month, an incident in disputed waters west of the peninsula saw a South Korean man, who allegedly tried to defect, shot dead His body was burnt

Some still hope to end the 70-year war even after Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un failed to reach a denuclearization deal

Just three years ago, North Koreans and South Koreans competed together at the Winter Olympics in Gangwon Province and the local governor thinks it’s time to revisit these guys. exchanges as a path to peace

« The efforts to reach a big deal did not lead to any agreement It is time for us to go back to develop non-political initiatives and to make small agreements in sports and cultural exchanges », a declared Choi Moon Soon

« It is very unfortunate that we find ourselves in the situation where even the small exchanges between North Korea and South Korea are interrupted by pursuing the big political problem and revealing the differences in the process »

International sanctions mean this is an unlikely dream at the moment Instead, Mr. Choi admitted that North Korea is closely monitoring the US presidential election to determine its next move

« I don’t know if I will see North Korea and South Korea unified in my life, but I have two daughters and I would like them not to inherit this unstable situation We live with a continuing threat and potential for conflict We should not pass this volatility down to our next generation « 

It may be out of his hands and be up to whoever wins the White House

Pyongyang tries to read the situation inside and outside its country It is not yet clear which path it is ready to take

Will his current perilous situation prompt Kim Jong-un to return to the negotiating table? Or will he look more inward and keep the borders closed

The North Korean leader has been exceptionally calm this year This parade is an opportunity to show his hand and his agenda and to put the fate of his country in the public eye

North Korea, Kim Jong-un, military parade, South Korea, Pyongyang, Workers’ Party of Korea