Kim Jong Un presided over a North Korean military parade on Friday July 28, with the presence of Russian and Chinese dignitaries, according to state media. The parade showcased new attack drones and Pyongyang’s intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Flanked by visiting Russian and Chinese officials, Kim Jong Un oversaw a North Korean military parade featuring new attack drones and Pyongyang’s nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, state media reported Friday.

Standing between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese politburo member Li Hongzhong in the VIP viewing stands, Kim smiled and saluted as thousands of soldiers marched past, trailed by the country’s most powerful ICBMs, which are banned under UN sanctions.

The event, featuring Kim’s first known foreign guests since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, was to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, which ended open hostilities and is celebrated as Victory Day.

This picture taken on July 27, 2023 and released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 28, 2023 shows a military parade to mark a key anniversary of the Korean War at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. 

Speaking at the event, defense minister Kang Sun Nam said the United States had no chance “of survival in case they use nuclear weapons” against the North.

The parade featured an array of new weaponry, including unmanned military drones first unveiled at a Pyongyang defense expo on Wednesday that was visited by Kim and Shoigu.

North Korea’s new underwater nuclear attack drone, called the “Haeil”, also appeared at the parade for the first time, Seoul-based specialist site NK News reported. Pyongyang claims the weapon can travel underwater for hundreds of kilometers before being detonated under a target.

But the “excitement and great joy of the spectators reached its height” when the nuclear-armed country’s newest ICBM, the solid-fuel Hwasong-18, tested in April and July this year, was paraded through the square, KCNA said.

This picture taken on July 27, 2023 and released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 28, 2023 shows an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) being paraded at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang to mark a key anniversary of the Korean War.

Experts said the presence of Chinese and Russian officials at the event showcasing Pyongyang’s banned weaponry was striking.

The parade serves a key function domestically of “promoting Kim Jong Un’s ruling legitimacy and internal unity in this economically challenging time”, Yangmo Ku, a political science professor at Norwich University, told media sources.

It was notable that China chose to send a civilian representative, who did not visit the defense expo whereas Moscow sent their defense chief, said Artyom Lukin, a political science professor at Far Eastern Federal University.

Khalil Wakim, with AFP