Kim Jong Un North Korea Broadcasts 27th July Military Parade
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un celebrated “Victory Day” the 70th anniversary of the Korean War this Thursday on 27th July 2023. He visited the cemetery for Chinese soldiers who fought in the Korean War. Kim Jong Un was accompanied by his sister Kim Yo Jong. The Korean nation was preparing for this state ceremony. They invited the Chinese and Russian delegations to this Victory Day celebrations for the first time since covid.
This was North Korea’s first parade since 2018 to feature prominent foreign dignitaries, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese politburo member Li Hongzhong joined North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the VIP viewing platform.
North Korea showcased it’s new advanced drones that change the game for the US and South Korea. It displayed two UAV’s and the surprising fact is they both look like US drones. North Korea gave a clear message either that they already have or are on the way to use these in both combat and reconnaissance capabilities. It also showed the Haeil “underwater nuclear attack drones” in the parade.
The drone shows demonstrate North Korea’s ability to fly drones in coordination in a complex formations that can be utilized for swarm attacks.
In Jan 2021, Kim Jong Un ordered the North Korean military to produce UAV’s with striking and reconnaissance capabilities. At the Weapons and Equipment Exhibition 2023, North Korea showcased these two drones. The first drone appears similar to US Global Hawk and the second appears similar to US MQ-9 Reaper combat flying drone.
In addition, North Korea also displayed Hwasong-17 ICBM, this is a liquid fuel based missile, it was initially tested in 2022. The Hwasong-18 which is a solid fuel based ICBM was recently tested in April and July 2023 was also on display. Another missile that caught the eyes of spectators was Hwasong-12Na (Hwasong-12B), it is equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV). The short range nuclear missiles were also on display the KN-23, KN-25.
More detailed information is available on NK News.
