N. Korea holds smaller, low-key military parade: Yonhap

By Lim Chang-won Posted : February 8, 2018, 14:48 Updated : February 13, 2018, 15:58

[AP/Yonhap News Photo]


SEOUL, Feb. 08 (Aju News) -- North Korea released TV footage of a military parade in Pyongyang on Thursday, which defense officials here said was curtailed both in length and program from the previous one last year.

The filmed clip, an apparent edited version, started with goose-stepping soldiers in various uniforms at Kim Il-sung Square in the capital city during the event held to mark the founding day of its armed forces, the day before the Winter Olympics begin in South Korea.

In the footage made public by the Korean Central TV Broadcasting Station, the North's leader Kim Jong-un, wearing a black coat and hat, then appeared, accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-ju. Details of weapons on display were not immediately confirmed.

South Korea's military officials said the parade was apparently smaller than the previous one, which began at 10:05 a.m. on April 15 last year, finished at 12:56 p.m. and was broadcast live. The event was to commemorate the 105th anniversary of the birth of the nation's founding leader Kim Il-sung.

"South Korea and the United States learned that North Korea's military parade started at 11:30 a.m. (Seoul time)," an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters. It lasted only about one and a half hours and featured a reduced program, according to the source, who asked not to be named.

In a rare move, the North also skipped the live broadcast of the street event, which outside observers view as an attempt to keep it low-key. The allies are analyzing the weapons and other equipment that appeared at Thursday's parade, the official said.

Dismissing criticism about such a military event on the eve of the opening of the Olympics south of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), the North's state media said the scheduling had nothing to do with the global sports festival.

(Yonhap)
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