Kim Jong Un declares at parade that North Korea is a 'world class military power'

SEOUL (BLOOMBERG, AFP, THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a military parade on Thursday (Feb 8), one day before the Winter Olympics' opening ceremony in South Korea, declaring that the North is a "world class military power".

Regiments of soldiers goose-stepped in formation through Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, followed by trucks, artillery, tanks and finally four giant Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) - as well as a band forming the Korean word for "Victory".

About 13,000 troops participated while 50,000 spectators watched the event that started around 10.30am local time, the Yonhap News Agency said, citing an unidentified South Korean government source.

At the parade, fireworks went off as Mr Kim took his place on the rostrum to watch the display, along with his wife Ri Sol Ju and the ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam - who will head Pyongyang's delegation to the Olympics on Friday.

Mr Kim rallied North Korea's soldiers, smiling widely in a long black coat and black fedora as goose-stepping troops marched around the square.

In a rousing speech, he said: "We ... have become capable of showcasing our stature as a world-class military power to the world."

The military should remain on high alert to ensure that invaders could not violate the North's sovereignty "even by 0.001mm", Mr Kim added.

"Long live!" cried the assembled troops, their breath condensing in the sub-zero temperatures and some of them in tears at the sight of the leader.

Pyongyang last month (January) announced it was changing the date of its military commemoration from April 25 to Feb 8 - the day before the Winter Games' opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, just 80km south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the peninsula.

Foreign journalists were banned from covering the event and it was not broadcast live on Korean Central Television. A recording of the event was later played on state media.

North Korea normally invites hundreds of foreign journalists to show off the spectacle to the world but did not do so this time, possibly an indication that it wanted to control how the display was seen.

South Korean government sources said that the parade appeared to be on a smaller scale than previous military parades.

Dr Zheng Wang, director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, said before the parade that it was possible that Mr Kim would be cautious so as to not be seen as "too aggressive".

"Kim's keeping everyone guessing," said researcher Bong Youngshik at Yonsei University's Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul. "North Korea held the parade to ingrain belief in the people that North Korea has truly become a nuclear power, but it also needed to tone down its rhetoric and actions as a peace initiative towards South Korea during the Olympics."

US President Donald Trump's advisers continue to threaten a military strike to stop Mr Kim from achieving the goal of developing a nuclear arsenal that poses a credible threat across the Pacific, even as Mr Kim engages South Korea in dialogue and sends athletes to the Olympics in Pyeongychang.

Vice-President Mike Pence, who will attend the opening ceremony, told troops on Thursday at Yokata Air Base, Japan, that the US was ready to act if necessary.

In a speech, Mr Pence highlighted the more than 50 American warships stationed in the region - including nuclear submarines - and squadrons of F-18 and F-35 fighters "ready at a moment's notice to fly and fight for freedom".

The military parade on Thursday was the first since Mr Kim declared in December (2017) that his country had become a strategic nuclear power that could pose a direct threat to the US with a nuclear-tipped ICBM.

When North Korea commemorated the 105th birthday of the North's founding father Kim Il Sung on April 25 last year, North Korea held its largest-ever military parade, which included the North's submarine-launched ballistic missile, the Pukguksong-1, and the Pukguksong-2, a solid-fuel medium-range ballistic missile.

Coinciding with the Pyeongchang Olympics where the two Koreas are to march under the Korean Unification Flag, the military parade put South Korea in an awkward positon - pursuing efforts to improve cross-border ties despite persistent concerns over the North's nuclear threat.

South Korea reiterated that the North's military parade is an event for a domestic audience independent of the Olympics, but concerns are emerging over whether it would clash with Pyongyang's pledge not to engage in hostile activities during the sporting event.

Unification Minister Cho Myung Gyun said it is inappropriate to link the military parade to the Pyeongchang Olympics, downplaying suspicions that North Korea intentionally decided to hold a military parade a day before its athletes march into the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday.