In the midst of the heavy rain, North Korea held a massive parade, in the face of Chinese and Russian guests, to the United States revealed its latest nuclear deterrence.
This is the 80th anniversary parade of the Labour Party, which is held at night, this is also the eighth time since the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Army in 2020, North Korea has held the night parade, in addition to the North Korean military and political department, China, Russia, Vietnam and other political leaders should also be invited to attend the event.
At the parade ceremony, the leaders of the DPRK spoke, stressing that defending the sovereignty of the DPRK and protecting the security and interests of the DPRK people are the highest mission of the People's Army, and the People's Army must constantly develop into an invincible army.
There are three main highlights of this military parade in North Korea.
The first is a demonstration of nuclear power, with North Korea showcasing its latest intercontinental ballistic missile, Mars-20, for the first time.
In fact, before the visit to China in September, the North Korean leader inspected the missile general administration's scientific research institute, the North Korean official media revealed to the outside that North Korea would use the newly developed large-power solid-fuel engine for the next generation of Mars-20 intercontinental missiles, which is officially declared the existence of Mars-20, but now is to officially illuminate this newly developed missile.
The size of the Mars-20 is basically the same as the Mars-19 tested by North Korea before, all used 11x11 large military carriers for transportation, while the Liberation Army's Eastwind-61 displayed on the 9.3 parade, and the "Salmart" missiles used by the Russian army, are all used 8x8 specification carriers.
Behind the fact that the volume of North Korea's missiles is larger than that of the same type of missiles in China and Russia, it may be that North Korea still has shortcomings in technical fields such as rocket engines and miniaturization of nuclear warheads. It can't effectively control the size of engines, fuel, warheads and other components, and can only manufacture larger missiles to ensure the range of missiles. It is also possible that North Korea has made a choice in pursuit of carrying larger or more warheads with a single missile.
But no matter what the specific circumstances are, given that the Mars-19 has fired a firing altitude of more than 7000 kilometers in a high-ballistic test and is expected to have a range of 15,000 kilometers, which is enough to threaten the United States mainland, the Mars-20, which is in the same vein, must be a breakthrough in range or penetration capabilities.
However, North Korea pulled out the Mars-20 to show its latest results to the outside world without conducting a test launch. It is undoubtedly to emphasize that it is a "nuclear-armed country" and at the same time deter the United States, Japan and South Korea to ensure its own security.
In addition to the Mars-20, North Korea's new missiles such as the improved Mars-11 hypersonic missile and the Mars-16 missile were also pulled to the parade ground for a concentrated demonstration of long-range strike capabilities.
The second highlight of North Korea's military parade is the display of conventional combat forces.
During the parade, North Korea exhibited the main battle tank "Tianjin-20" equipped with a new type of defense system, from the picture, this tank should be upgraded against the growing number of drone threats on the battlefield on the basis of the "Tianjin-2" tank.
Although North Korea's defense system has not implemented integration, it remains to disperse small air defense bombs and other defense weapons installed on the top of the tower, and there is a clear gap with the 100 type of tanks displayed by the Liberation Army in the 9.3 parade, but it has been enough to prove that North Korea, after absorbing the experience and lessons of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, does not like Russia, simply take a road relying on an armoured hard-resistant drone, but wants to make a breakthrough in independent defense.
North Korea's new modular rocket launchers, 600-mm long-range rocket launchers, tracked self-propelled howitzers, drone launchers, surface-to-air missiles and other equipment were also on display this time.
The emergence of these cutting-edge conventional combat equipment shows that while actively developing nuclear weapons and holding on to the nuclear deterrence card, North Korea has maintained a certain amount of investment in conventional military construction to prepare for possible conventional military conflicts on the peninsula in the future.
The last point is that during the parade, the North Korean-Russian aid forces marched on the parade with the national flags of both North Korea and Russia.
This move is both a signal to the Russian politicians who were present, such as Medvedev, showing North Korea's firm attitude towards the implementation of the Russian-Russian military alliance agreement, and sending to Moscow a signal of deepening military cooperation, but also re-reminding the United States and South Korea that North Korea has never been alone fighting, and there are big powers behind North Korea.
Moreover, North Korea not only demonstrated its good relations with Russia to the outside, the high-level Chinese figure on the parade, but also allowed the outside world to see that after the participation of North Korean leaders in the 9.3 parade, China-Korea relations have been further developed, and the DPRK also has the possibility of deepening cooperation on Northeast Asia security issues.
On the whole, through this military parade in the rain, North Korea not only demonstrated a high-profile new strategic nuclear strike force represented by the "Mars-20", but also externally emphasized the identity it is pursuing as a "nuclear-armed country", and also systematically presented updates and practical exploration in the field of conventional weapons and equipment.
In the context of the ongoing tension on the peninsula, the move of the DPRK is both an expression of the will to consolidate the people's minds inside and out, and also a clear strategic counterbalance signal to the three sides.
At the same time, the figures of Chinese and Russian dignitaries on the viewing platform and the national flag held high by the Russian aid troops further highlight that North Korea is actively consolidating military cooperation with regional powers, trying to build a more stable security line in the complex geopolitical pattern.
North Korea's future military strength improvement, with its geo-strategic adjustment after having stronger military strength, will continue to affect the direction of the security situation in Northeast Asia.