Seoul: North Korea showed off its latest military hardware, including a large new intercontinental ballistic missile, in a flood-lit parade to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party held in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Several analysts speculated that the new ICBM appeared to be an extended version of North Korea’s Hwasong-15 missile, which was first tested in November 2017 and is believed to be capable of reaching the entire continental United States. What appeared to be four of the missiles were transported on new 11-axle transporter-erector-launcher vehicles.
Observers had been looking out for a provocative display of military strength from North Korea, including the unveiling of the “new strategic weapon” that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised at the end of last year.
“This would appear to be the ‘new strategic weapon,’” wrote Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, on Twitter.
Panda said the ICBM appeared to be the largest, road-mobile liquid-fuel missile in the world.
The parade was aired on state-run Korean Central Televsion on Saturday evening, in a delayed broadcast that was highly produced and edited with drone footage and quick cuts among multiple cameras. Seoul-based news and analysis site NK News provided a simultaneous YouTube stream of the event.
In addition to the ICBM, a new version of a submarine-launched ballistic missile was also unveiled, along with a slew of new hardware including tanks, armored personnel carriers, air defense systems and anti-tank missiles.
