A military parade in North Korea on Wednesday night (8) revealed that the firepower of the dictatorship today is great enough to worry countries like the United States. Images of the event released by the state news agency KCNA show that the regime now has at least 11 Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missiles, which experts suspect are capable of hitting virtually any point on the globe if equipped with nuclear warheads.
The model had been tested for the first time last year. In addition to it, the parade also featured what analysts claim is a possible prototype or model of a new solid-fuel intercontinental missile — developing such a weapon has been one of the biggest goals of the dictatorship lately, since it can make detection difficult. of nuclear missiles during a conflict.
Dictator Kim Jong-un oversaw the parade, held on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the national armed forces in the capital, Pyongyang. He attended the festivities alongside his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and daughter Ju-ae, who is reportedly being trained to become the country’s next leader.
Military events like this are closely scrutinized by analysts, who look for clues about the progress of the regime’s weapons development program, one of the most closed in the world. Questioned about the meaning of this Wednesday’s parade, they claim that the weapons that North Korea displayed show a country that seeks to consolidate itself as a military power – and, in principle, succeeds.
“This time, Kim Jong-un has let the expanding array of tactical and long-range missiles speak for themselves,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, told Reuters. To AFP, Ankit Panda, author of “Kim Jong-un and the Bomb” (no edition in Brazil), said that the parade is consistent with the dictatorship’s long-standing plan to produce nuclear weapons and launch systems on a large scale.
The issue, he adds, is that Washington has designed its missile defenses for “limited” threats from Pyongyang — the actual size of North Korea’s military capability could therefore be an issue for the US.
Ju-ae’s presence in the parade is another factor imbued with significance for experts. According to them, the girl’s frequent presence alongside her father at state events since last November probably indicates that she has been designated as her successor.
The regime has never officially mentioned Kim having children before, but the dictator is believed to be the father of three children, two girls and a boy.
North Korea has staged three other nighttime military parades in recent years, during which time it has pledged to expand and intensify its military exercises in preparation for war.
The dictatorship carried out a record number of missile tests last year, prohibited by UN Security Council sanctions and resolutions – Kim Jong-un argues that the determinations violate the principle of sovereignty, which guarantees the right of self-defense of its territory.
Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the neighboring country for holding the event at a time when it faces economic hardship and growing hunger.
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