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North Korea is commemorating a crucial state holiday on Friday (April 15) with vows for greater loyalty to leader Kim Jong Un, but there was no word on an expected military parade to display new weaponry amid heightened tensions with the United States.
The 110th birthday of Kim’s late grandfather and state founder, Kim Il Sung, comes after North Korea conducted a series of weapons tests in recent months, including its first full-range intercontinental ballistic missile launch since 2017. Experts believe North Korea intends to grow its nuclear arsenal and increase pressure on the US in the midst of stalled nuclear diplomacy.
“Let us strive harder in loyalty to our respected comrade Kim Jong Un, and on that path, we shall eventually accomplish our great president’s (Kim Il Sung’s) dreams to construct a strong communist state,” the North’s state-run website Uriminzokkiri said in a commentary.
According to North Korea’s primary newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, Kim Il Sung is revered as “eternal president” under the “great leadership of comrade Kim Jong Un.”
Kim Il Sung’s birthday is the most important national festival in North Korea, where the Kim dynasty has dominated under a strong personality cult since the country’s creation in 1948. Kim Jong Un is the third generation of his family to lead North Korea, following his father’s death in late 2011.
Kim has worked hard to expand his nuclear arsenal while also restoring the economy. However, a combination of pandemic-caused problems, US-led sanctions, and his own mismanagement has resulted in a tremendous economic blow in what has become the most difficult period of his decade in leadership.
North Korea frequently celebrates important state anniversaries with massive military parades displaying newly developed missiles. State media claimed Kim Il Sung’s birthday would be commemorated with fireworks, a dance party, and a performance, but no military march was mentioned.
According to NK News, a North Korean-focused news outlet, sources in Pyongyang reported hearing aircraft and helicopters flying low over the city centre shortly after midnight Thursday – a probable indication of a nighttime military display. The South Korean Defense Ministry stated it has no urgent information to share with the public on a probable military parade in North Korea.
Following North Korea’s missile launches earlier this year, South Korean officials predicted that North Korea would soon undertake new provocations such as another ICBM test, an illegal launch of a rocket to place a spy satellite into orbit, or perhaps a nuclear bomb test, the sixth of its sort.
South Korea’s military recently stated it found evidence that North Korea is constructing tunnels at a nuclear testing site that it partially demolished before entering now-stalled nuclear talks with the US in 2018. Some experts believe North Korea would conduct a nuclear test when the US and South Korean forces begin their yearly drills, which the North perceives as an invasion rehearsal, next week.
“I believe they would conduct a nuclear test after it has completed reconstructing its nuclear testing facility,” said Moon Seong Mook, an expert with the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. “There is no reason for them to bring back their testing grounds if they do not intend to utilise them for a bomb test.”
Some observers believe the continuous brinkmanship is also fuelled by domestic politics, since Kim hasn’t had much to brag about to his people since his summit with then-President Donald Trump in 2019 that failed to result in much-needed sanctions relief. North Korea is in its “worst-ever scenario,” according to Kim last year.
