North Korea Kim Jong Un Orders Spin-off for 70th Anniversary Celebrations

PYONGYANG, North Korea – North Korea has marked the 70th anniversary of its founding Sunday, staging what he calls the "Mass Games" in his main stadium for the first time in five years. He organized a military parade in his capital without displaying intercontinental ballistic missiles or intercontinental ballistic missiles. President Trump praised the move, tweeting: "Thanks to President Kim.We will prove that everyone is wrong! There is nothing better than a good dialogue between two people who love you! Much better than before. my entry into office. "

Despite friendly words, negotiations to bring North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons are not going well or badly, reports Ben Tracy, correspondent for CBS News. But instead of using this anniversary to provoke the United States with a show of force, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un seems to be making some noticeable changes to the North Korean scenario.

Kim, who watched the military parade from above, ordered a rebound. He greatly reduced the parade's weapons portion and did not show North Korea's most provocative possessions, the ICBM – perhaps taking into account the fragile détente between him and Mr. Trump.

Kim has used this year to make a major strategic shift in North Korea. Yes, the army and missiles are still important, but what he is talking about more and more, it is the construction of the North Korean economy. The majority of the parade aimed to highlight economic progress despite crippling international sanctions.

Government-guided tours conveyed the same message, with trips to a silk factory and a North Korean cosmetics factory that exports its products to China and Russia.

Yet, the only thing that has not changed, is the cult of personality around North Korean leaders, past and present. Kim visited a teaching university in January and there is now an entire room dedicated to his visit. They even put the chair on which he was sitting in a window.

At events this weekend, Kim praised the adoring crowds, to whom he now promises not only better guns, but also a better way of life.

It is still a regime that is under sanctions for brutal violations of human rights, so it is not clear whether Kim really intends to transform his country or if all of this is a complex distraction.