North Korea staged a military parade Wednesday evening featuring intercontinental ballistic missiles and a tactical nuclear unit to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of its armed forces, state-run media reported Thursday.
The official Korean Central News Agency said leader Kim Jong Un attended the event with his wife Ri Sol Ju and a "beloved" child, believed to be his daughter Kim Ju Ae, who is around 10 years old.
Kim Jong Un, clad in a black coat and felt hat, did not give a speech at the event, according to a KCNA report and pictures.
Images of the leader accompanied by his daughter at the parade carried by the news agency and the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea, have reinforced speculation that she is being groomed as a potential successor to her father.
The North Korean leader is believed to have three children -- a son, born in 2010, Kim Ju Ae, born in 2013 and a third, born in 2017, according to South Korean media.
The ICBMs displayed at the parade included the new "Hwasong-17," which could potentially travel over 15,000 kilometers and reach the U.S. mainland, according to a report from Rodong Sinmun.
They also showed what appeared to be a new type of long-range ballistic missile, possibly equipped with a solid-fuel engine that enables a shorter preparation time for launches than those equipped with liquid-fuel models.
In December, Pyongyang said it has successfully test-fired a "high-thrust solid-fuel motor" with 140 tons of thrust.
Satellite images taken Wednesday and released by U.S.-based space technology firm Maxar Technologies Inc. showed gathered crowds and military vehicles, known as transporter erector launchers, in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square, named after the nation's founder and the current leader's grandfather.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported the parade began at around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday with a record 22,000 people attending, citing a military source.
On Tuesday, the eve of the anniversary, Kim visited the quarters of general officers of the Korean People's Army and praised the nation's fighting force, calling it "the strongest army in the world," according to KCNA.
North Korea last staged a large-scale military parade in Kim Il Sung Square in April last year to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, the predecessor of the current army.
Pyongyang has organized military parades on key state or military anniversaries, including the birthday of Kim Il Sung on April 15, 1912, and the founding of what eventually became the ruling Workers' Party of Korea on Oct. 10, 1945.
The parades are aimed at enhancing national pride and unity, as well as showing off technological developments of the country's arms.
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