By Tomoyuki Tachikawa,
North Korea will bolster its development of nuclear weapons at a faster pace and use them if its fundamental interests are threatened, leader Kim Jong Un said at a huge military parade to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of its army, state-run media reported Tuesday.
At the first military parade by the nation's regular forces in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square since January 2021, held Monday night, a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-17 and numerous other weapons were displayed.
The country's biggest-known Hwasong-17 missile, which North Korea has claimed was test-fired in March, is believed to be capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to anywhere in the continental United States.
Kim, dressed in a white military uniform, said the nuclear forces are the "symbol of our national strength," according to the Korean Central News Agency, underscoring that his nation has no intention to abandon its nuclear capabilities.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a country that gave up its nuclear arsenal around 30 years ago in return for security guarantees by world powers, has reinforced North Korea's determination not to discard its own nuclear weapons, foreign affairs experts said.
As bilateral negotiations between North Korea and the United States over denuclearization and sanctions relief have been at a standstill for more than two years, Pyongyang is expected to continue developing weapons to challenge Washington, they added.
Participating in the military parade with his wife Ri Sol Ju, Kim said in his speech that North Korea will take steps at the "fastest possible speed" for further enhancement of its nuclear forces, KCNA reported.
"The fundamental mission of our nuclear forces is to deter a war, but our nukes can never be confined to the single mission of war deterrent," Kim was quoted as saying. "If any forces try to violate the fundamental interests of our state, our nuclear forces will have to decisively accomplish its unexpected second mission."
North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, released photos of the parade showing many other weapons, including what appear to be hypersonic and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
Later in the day, the latest military parade was also broadcast by the Korean Central Television.
In recent years, North Korea has held military parades, aimed at enhancing national pride, at night to liven up the festive mood through colorful lights.
South Korean media reported Sunday there were signs of preparations for a vast military parade in Pyongyang on the anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, the predecessor of the present Korean People's Army.
April 25, 1932, is the day that North Korea says its founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of Kim Jong Un, started organizing an anti-Japanese guerrilla force.
North Korea refrained from nuclear and ICBM tests as well as a military parade on April 15, the 110th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung -- the nation's most significant holiday known as the "Day of the Sun."
On March 24, however, North Korea made the first launch of an ICBM since November 2017, marking an end to its self-imposed moratorium on such firings that had stretched back to April 2018. KCNA said the missile was a Hwasong-17.
Pyongyang said earlier this year that it may resume all "activities" it had temporarily suspended to build trust with former U.S. President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden's predecessor, while urging Washington to change its "hostile policy."
South Korea has said it has detected activities at North Korea's only known nuclear test site to restore tunnels. In May 2018, Pyongyang said it had "completely" demolished the Punggye-ri site in the presence of foreign reporters.
North Korea's last nuclear test, its sixth, took place in September 2017. Trump called on Kim Jong Un to scrap all of the country's nuclear facilities, including undeclared ones, but it is uncertain whether Pyongyang has dismantled them.
North Korea's state-run media, meanwhile, said Friday that Kim and outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae In exchanged personal letters and shared the view that inter-Korean ties "would improve" if both sides "make tireless efforts with hope."
The report came just days after South Korea and its defense ally, the United States, began their joint springtime military exercises, which North Korea slammed as a "rehearsal" for war.
On April 17, KCNA reported Kim observed the test-firing of a "new-type tactical guided weapon" the previous day. Some analysts say it can carry a tactical nuclear weapon that could be used in a limited strike.
The United States and North Korea remain technically in a state of war as the 1950-1953 Korean War, in which U.S.-led U.N. forces fought alongside the South against the North supported by China and the Soviet Union, ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
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North Korea holds military parade in Pyongyang to mark key anniversary
North Korea test-fired "new-type tactical guided weapon": KCNA
North Korea marks key anniversary amid fears about military provocations
