North Korea threw a military parade in the middle of the night for its 73rd birthday, and photos show a slimmed-down Kim Jong Un and marchers in hazmat suits
- North Korea threw a parade in the middle of the night to celebrate its 73rd birthday.
- The country's leader, Kim Jong Un, presided over the parade as troops marched on.
- Weapons like rocket launchers and rifles were on display, though ballistic missiles were missing.
North Korea threw a parade in Pyongyang to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
All the photos were distributed by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, and The Associated Press said the images couldn't be independently verified. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event.
The military parade in Pyongyang featured a contingent of soldiers wearing orange hazmat suits — likely a display of the country's perceived capability to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
North Korea does not release COVID-19 data and has long insisted that it has recorded zero cases of the virus.
But global-health experts have disputed this account, and previous reports from outside the country have suggested that there were surges.
The North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presided over the parade from a balcony. Photos show him wearing a tan Western-style suit, not the Mao suit he usually wears.
Kim was also looking noticeably slimmer compared to a few months ago, and he was pictured walking on a red carpet with two children as officials applauded behind him.
The parade came as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said in July that food shortages in the country were at crisis levels, Nikkei Asia reported.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, North Korea has the fourth-largest army in the world, with nearly 1.3 million troops.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations
Rocket launchers, rifles, and tractors carrying anti-tank missiles were on display at the parade, Al-Jazeera reported. Weaponry like ballistic missiles were noticeably missing, though.
North Korea has displayed intercontinental ballistic missiles in previous parades, but they were noticeably absent on Thursday.
Stars and Stripes noted that the weaponry that would likely enrage the US and South Korea was absent. One expert told the outlet that North Korea may have "wanted to tone down" its military displays "at least for a moment."
North Korea and South Korea restored cross-border communication in July, and Japanese media has reported that the US, South Korea, and Japan plan to meet next week to discuss whether the US could reopen dialogue with North Korea.
Source: Al-Jazeera
This is the third nighttime military parade North Korea has staged in the past year, Bloomberg reported. Having the parade at night reportedly makes it more challenging for spy satellites to get data on the country's military hardware.
Source: Bloomberg