NORTH KOREA SHOWS OFF NEW SUBMARINELAUNCHED MISSILES AFTERRARE PARTY CONGRESS

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea
displayed what appeared to
be a new submarine-launched
ballistic missile (SLBM) at a
parade on Thursday night,
state media reported, capping
more than a week of political
meetings with a show of
military might.
Clad in a leather coat and
fur hat, leader Kim Jong
Un smiled and waved as
he oversaw the parade in
Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung
Square, photos by state media
showed.

The parade featured rows of
marching soldiers, as well as
a range of military hardware
including tanks and rocket
launchers.

At the end, a number of what
analysts said appeared to be
new variants of short-range
ballistic missiles and SLBMs
rolled into the square on
trucks.

“The world’s most powerful
weapon, submarine-launch
ballistic missiles, entered the
square one after another,
powerfully demonstrating
the might of the revolutionary
armed forces,” news agency
KCNA reported.

NORTH KOREA HAS TESTFIRED SEVERAL SLBMS
FROM UNDERWATER,
AND ANALYSTS SAY IT IS
SEEKING TO DEVELOP AN
OPERATIONAL SUBMARINE
TO CARRY THE MISSILES.

Photos released by state
media showed the SLBM
was labelled Pukguksong-5,
potentially marking
an upgrade over the
Pukguksong-4 that was
unveiled at a larger military
parade in October.

“The new missile definitely
looks longer,” Michael
Duitsman, a researcher at the
California-based James Martin
Center for Nonproliferation
Studies (CNS), said on Twitter.

Unlike that October parade,

Thursday’s event did not
showcase North Korea’s
largest intercontinental
ballistic missiles (ICBMs),
which are believed to be
able to deliver a nuclear
warhead to anywhere in the
United States.

THE PARADE IN ITSELF
WAS NOT INTENDED TO
BE A PROVOCATION BUT
WAS A WORRYING SIGN OF
PYONGYANG’S PRIORITIES,
SAID LEIF-ERIC EASLEY,
A PROFESSOR AT EWHA
UNIVERSITY IN SEOUL.

“The economy is severely
strained from pandemic
border closures, policy
mismanagement and
international sanctions,” he
said. “Despite or perhaps
because of this, Kim Jong
Un feels the need to devote
scarce resources to another
political-military display.”

On Wednesday, Kim Yo Jong,
the sister of Kim Jong Un
and a member of the ruling
party’s Central Committee,
criticised South Korea’s
military for saying it had
detected signs of a parade in
Pyongyang on Sunday.

North Korean officials have
been meeting in Pyongyang
for the first party congress
since 2016.