North Korea parades new Submarine-Launched Missile

North Korea displayed a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) at a parade on Thursday night, described as “the world’s most powerful weapon”, KCNA reported.

 

Several of the missiles were displayed at a parade overseen by leader Kim Jong-un, marking the end of a five-yearly congress of the ruling Workers’ Party where leader Kim Jong Un admitted severe failings but pledged to boost the country’s military might, the state media reported state.

 

Clad in a leather coat and fur hat, Mr Kim is pictured smiling and waving as he watched the display in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square, which also included infantry troops, artillery and tanks.

The show of military strength comes days before the inauguration of Joe Biden as US president.

 

Images released by North Korean state media showed at least four large black-and-white missiles being driven past flag-waving crowds.

 

Analysts noted it was a previously unseen weapon, the SLBM was labelled Pukguksong-5, potentially marking an upgrade over the Pukguksong-4 that was unveiled at a larger military parade in October.

 

“The world’s most powerful weapon, submarine-launch ballistic missile, entered the square one after another, powerfully demonstrating the might of the revolutionary armed forces,” KCNA said.

 

The event on Thursday did not showcase North Korea’s largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which was unveiled at a much larger military parade in October.

 

That colossal weapon is believed to be able to deliver a nuclear warhead to anywhere in the US, and its size had surprised even seasoned analysts when it was put on show last year.

 

Under Mr Kim’s leadership, North Korea has made rapid progress in its weapons programme, which it says is necessary to defend itself against a possible US invasion.

 

The unveiling of the new missiles appears designed to send the incoming Biden administration a message of the North’s growing military prowess, say experts.

 

Over the last four years, Pyongyang has had an erratic relationship with the US under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Mr Kim and Mr Trump engaged in mutual insults and threats of war before an unprecedented summit in Singapore in 2018 and declarations of love by the outgoing US leader.

 

Despite the apparent warming of relations, little concrete progress was made on negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear programme and a second summit in Hanoi in 2019 broke down after the US refused Pyongyang’s demands for sanctions relief.