SEOUL • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a military parade yesterday, a day before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in South Korea, and declared that the North is a "world-class military power".
Regiments of soldiers goose-stepped in formation through Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the country's armed forces.
They were followed by trucks, artillery, tanks and four giant Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as a band forming the Korean word for "victory".
About 13,000 troops participated, while 50,000 spectators watched the event, reports said.
Analysts said the parade seemed smaller than those of previous years, but was still focused on the North's goal of strengthening its nuclear missile capabilities.
Fireworks went off as Mr Kim Jong Un watched the display with his wife Ri Sol Ju and the ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam, who will head Pyongyang's delegation to the Olympics.
"We... have become capable of showcasing our stature as a world-class military power to the world," said Mr Kim Jong Un. The military should remain on high alert to ensure that invaders cannot not violate the North's sovereignty, he said.
North Korea normally invites hundreds of foreign journalists to show off the spectacle to the world but did not do so this time, possibly an indication that it wanted to control how the display is seen. Unlike the North's parade last April, state television also did not show the event live, instead airing it hours later.
"It looks like North Korea had potential reaction from the international community in mind and toned down the scale and message of the event a lot," said North Korean studies professor Lim Eul Chul of Kyungnam University.
Even as it held the parade, the North is on an Olympics-linked charm offensive - sending a troupe of performers, hundreds of female cheerleaders and Mr Kim Jong Un's sister to South Korea.
Analysts say that with the dual approach, the North is looking to normalise its status as a "de facto nuclear state", and could be trying to weaken sanctions against it or drive a wedge between the South and its ally the United States.
North Korea is under multiple sets of United Nations Security Council sanctions over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which have seen it develop rockets capable of reaching the US mainland.
US Vice-President Mike Pence is scheduled to attend the Games' opening ceremony today.
That could put him in the same room as Mr Kim Yong Nam, raising the prospect of senior figures from the two sides meeting.
Senior Pyongyang Foreign Ministry official Cho Yong Sam, however, said the North had no intention of meeting US officials during the trip. "We have never begged for dialogue with the US nor in the future, too," the North's KCNA news agency quoted him as saying.
Although the US had not requested talks with North Korea, Mr Pence left open the possibility of some contact.
"There may be a possibility for any kind of an encounter with North Koreans. We will have to wait and see exactly how that unfolds," he said.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
