North Korea commemorated the 74th anniversary of its founding today with a massive event held in Pyongyang with paratroopers, an air show and the presence of the leader, Kim Jong-un, who welcomed the country’s military development.
The celebrations took place on Thursday night on Mansu Hill in the North Korean capital, where the statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, grandfather and father of the current leader, are located, according to the state agency KCNA on Friday. .
Kim Jong-un attended the event with his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and went on stage to take pictures with the artists and cheer them on.
“Fireworks were displayed in the September sky where the national flag waved,” said the aforementioned medium, which accompanied the article with photographs of Kim greeting the attendees, thousands of people celebrating and waving the country’s pennants, and musical performances.
Pyongyang usually holds large celebrations on round anniversaries (every five to ten years) of its national holidays, so it is believed that the large scale of this year’s ceremony is part of the country’s efforts to give an image of unity and encourage to the people after natural disasters and the pandemic.
These celebrations, which could continue in the coming days, coincide with the official announcement that North Korea will begin administering the covid vaccine to its population from November, and with the enactment of a law to promote the nuclear development of the country in the current geopolitical context.
Kim made the announcement the day before during a speech to the Supreme National Assembly, the country’s legislative body, in which he assured that Pyongyang would never give up its atomic weapons or bow to the pressure of international sanctions.
North Korea has kept its borders closed since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 and has rejected offers of dialogue made by Seoul and Washington since then.
Last year, the North Korean regime approved a five-year weapons modernization plan that has led to about twenty projectile launches this year and that seems to be behind the preparations for a new nuclear test detected by satellite images this year.
If it takes place, it would be Pyongyang’s first atomic test in five years and which, according to South Korean and US intelligence, has been ready for months to be carried out.