North Korea parades intercontinental ballistic missiles, vows to boost nuclear arsenal

SEOUL, April 26 โ North Korea will speed up development of its nuclear arsenal, leader Kim Jong-un said while overseeing a huge military parade that displayed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and other weapons, state media reported today.
The parade occurred last night during celebrations for the founding anniversary of North Koreaโs armed forces, state news agency KCNA said. It comes as Pyongyang has stepped up weapons tests and displays of military power amid stalled denuclearisation talks with the United States and an incoming conservative administration in South Korea.
US and South Korean officials say there are signs of new construction at North Koreaโs only known nuclear test site, which has been officially shuttered since 2018, suggesting Pyongyang may be preparing to resume testing nuclear weapons.
โThe nuclear forces of our Republic should be fully prepared to fulfil their responsible mission and put their unique deterrent in motion at any time,โ Kim told the gathering, according to KCNA.
The fundamental mission of the Northโs nuclear force is to deter war, but its use โcan never be confined to the single mission,โ he added.
โIf any forces try to violate the fundamental interests of our state, our nuclear forces will have to decisively accomplish its unexpected second mission,โ Kim said.
Hong Min, a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said Kimโs speech could signal a change in his nuclear doctrine to leave open the possibility of โnuclear first use,โ after previously confining their purpose to deterrence and defence.
โThough he did not specify what makes the โsecond missionโ or โfundamental interestsโ, he indicated more broadly that the nuclear force might be used preemptively, not only when theyโre under attack, but also under certain circumstances,โ Hong said.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Kimโs remarks could have been aimed at the incoming government of South Korean president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who has warned of possible preemptive strikes if an attack from the North were imminent.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walks with a rose in his hand to place it at the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on Mount Daesong in Pyongyang in this undated photo released on April 26, 2022. โ Picture by KCNA via Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walks with a rose in his hand to place it at the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on Mount Daesong in Pyongyang in this undated photo released on April 26, 2022. โ Picture by KCNA via Reuters
Showcase of new weapons
The transition team of Yoon, who takes office on May 10, criticised Pyongyang for building menacing weapons while appearing to pursue talks.
โThe parade proved that North Korea has outwardly called for peace and dialogue over the last five years but in reality it focused on developing the means to threaten not only the Korean peninsula but Northeast Asia and world peace,โ deputy spokesman Won Il-hee told a briefing.
โSecuring the capability to deter North Koreaโs grave and real threat is the most urgent task,โ Won added, vowing to bolster the US alliance and expedite weapons development to beef up Seoulโs deterrence.
The parade featured North Koreaโs largest known ICBM, the Hwasong-17, KCNA reported. The massive missile was test fired for the first time last month, but officials in South Korea believe efforts to conduct a full test ended in an explosion over Pyongyang.
North Koreaโs Rodong Sinmun newspaper released photos showing the Hwasong-17, as well as what appeared to be hypersonic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), among other weapons on trucks and launching vehicles rolling by crowds of flag-waving observers and participants.
The procession also included rows of conventional weapons such as artillery, rocket launchers, and prototype tanks, plus tens of thousands of goose-stepping troops shouting โlong lifeโ to Kim Jong-un.
North Koreaโs ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes are banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions, which have imposed sanctions on the country.
In the latest weapons test on April 16, Kim oversaw the launch of what state media said were short-range missiles that could deliver tactical nuclear weapons.
On a visit to Seoul last week, US envoy on North Korea Sung Kim said the allies would โrespond responsibly and decisively to provocative behaviour,โ while underlining his willingness to engage with North Korea โanywhere without any conditionsโ.
North Korea has said it is open to diplomacy, but has rejected Washingtonโs overtures as insincere in view of what Pyongyang sees as โhostile policiesโ such as sanctions and military drills with the South. โ Reuters