Paramilitary group the Employee-Peasant Pink Guards – with 5.7 million members – featured prominently within the parade.
Kim Jong Un has marked the seventy fifth anniversary of the founding of North Korea with a parade of paramilitary forces and guarantees to deepen ties with China and Russia.
The North Korean chief attended the midnight parade on Friday in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Sq. which was additionally attended by a visiting Chinese language delegation and Russian diplomats, the nation’s state Korean Central Information Company (KCNA) reported on Saturday.
The occasion featured “paramilitary forces” from the capital, Pyongyang, state media stated, moderately than troopers within the common military, and it didn’t seem to showcase the nation’s fearsome domestically produced weaponry together with intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Pictures in state media confirmed uniformed paramilitary brigades, together with some using tractors or in giant crimson vehicles, as Kim, flanked by his younger daughter, regarded on smiling and clapping.
South Korea’s Yonhap Information Company famous that Kim didn’t ship a speech on the occasion and that the parade was principally led by the Employee-Peasant Pink Guards, a civil defence organisation that’s stated to have about 5.7 million members.
Kim met with a visiting Chinese language delegation led by Liu Guozhong, vice-premier of the State Council, the second such go to by prime officers from Beijing in six weeks. Russian diplomats additionally attended the occasion, in addition to a Russian army song-and-dance ensemble which had arrived in Pyongyang to mark the event, KCNA reported.
KCNA stated Kim met with Liu and different Chinese language delegates forward of the parade, the place they exchanged views on “additional intensifying the multi-faceted coordination and cooperation” between the international locations.
In July, Kim invited delegations led by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese language Communist Social gathering Politburo member Li Hongzhong to an enormous army parade in Pyongyang, the place he rolled out his nation’s strongest weapons.
A day earlier than the parade, Kim took Shoigu on a tour of a home arms exhibition, which has added to suspicions that North Korea is prepared to produce arms to Russia to assist in its conflict on Ukraine.
Moscow expanded its official presence in North Korea shortly earlier than the parade, with its Pyongyang embassy saying this week that it had been allowed to usher in 20 diplomatic and technical workers – the primary such rotation of personnel since 2019.
Russian President Vladimir Putin despatched Kim a message marking the anniversary, KCNA stated, wherein he referred to as for the 2 international locations to “increase the bilateral ties in all respects”.
Kim is predicted to journey to Russia this month to satisfy Putin to debate weapons provides to Moscow to help its invasion of Ukraine.
In line with Chinese language state media, President Xi Jinping “prolonged congratulations in a name to Kim Jong Un” on the anniversary.
