North Korean military parade shows tanks and flowers, not missiles

PYONGYANG (Reuters) – In the absence of long-range missiles, North Korea on Sunday organized a military parade focused on conventional arms, peace and economic development, marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the country.

The weakening of the presentation compared to previous years earned US President Donald Trump a thank-you message that called it a "very positive statement from North Korea".

Trump on Twitter quoted Fox News's description of the long-range nuclear missile event as a sign of North Korea's "denuclearization commitment."

"Thank you to President Kim. We will both prove that everyone is wrong! There is nothing better than a good dialogue between two people who love it! Much better than before I took office, "tweeted Trump.

In Pyongyang, a line of soldiers and tank columns shook the ground before giving way to crowds waving flags and flowers past a North Korean platform, Kim Jong Un, and others. foreigners visiting.

Kim told the envoy, Chinese parliament speaker Li Zhanshu, that North Korea is focusing on economic development and hopes to learn from China's experience in this regard, Chinese national television reported.

"North Korea maintains the consensus of the Singapore meeting between the leaders of North Korea and the United States and has taken steps to achieve this and hopes that the United States will take steps to jointly promote the process of political resolution of the peninsula ". paraphrases Kim saying.

The parade highlights the themes of military achievement, national development and international engagement at a time when Kim's commitment to abandoning nuclear weapons raises doubts.

Unlike previous years, no intercontinental missile was exposed. And there have been no nuclear tests to mark the party, as it has happened in each of the last two years.

North Korea regularly uses the summer holidays to showcase its military capabilities and the latest developments in missile technology.

But this has diminished this year, underscoring Kim's stated goal of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula and his recent meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the Trump Summits in Singapore and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and Dalian.

The theme of this year's celebrations was the economic development and unification of the Korean Peninsula, divided since the Second World War.

A huge tank was decorated with a modern train, solar panels, wind power plants and dams, under the motto "All our strength to build the economy!

Kim Yong Nam, head of state of North Korea, made a speech at the parade in which he declared that the country had achieved the status of military power and would now pursue its efforts to strengthen its economy.

Floods on unification were also adopted by a crowd of North Koreans waving unified Korean flags.

"All Koreans should unite to achieve the unification of our generation. Unification is the only way for Koreans to survive, "an editorial in North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun said.

Kim Jong Un and his South Korean counterpart Moon will meet in Pyongyang from September 18 to 20 for the third time this year and will discuss "practical measures" for denuclearization, officials said in Seoul.

LETTER FROM KIM

Despite the stalled progress in negotiations with Washington, the North Korean leader wants to denuclearize the peninsula in the first term of Trump, according to South Korean officials.

Trump said Friday that Kim had sent him a letter that he said would be positive.

Melissa Hanham, Senior Research Fellow at the Non-Proliferation Studies Center James Martin, said the military component of the parade seemed to have been reduced this year.

"I am very curious to hear what the letter contains in Trump, as this parade could have been more provocative," said Hanham, adding that satellite evidence showed that North Korea was pursuing missile-related activities.

Kim was seen laughing and holding hands with Li in China as he watched the festivities at the main Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on a clear autumn day. Kim waved to the crowd before leaving but made no public comments.

North Korea has invited a large group of foreign journalists to cover a military parade and other events to mark the 70th anniversary of its founding.

This includes emblematic mass games that Pyongyang is organizing for the first time in five years, a huge nationalist competition organized by more than 100,000 people in one of the largest stadiums in the world.

Human rights defenders and North Korean defectors have criticized the mass games and the military parade for pressure on artists and for painting a distorted picture of the country.

But thousands of cheerful North Koreans applauded in unison and rallied support for their leader Kim.

A Saturday night concert featuring Kim Yong Nam and foreign delegations offered few martial messages or images, and only a few American bombers were shown briefly in images of the 1950-53 Korean War.