Unmanned Reconnaissance Aircraft, Consecutive Surveillance... Is North Korea's Military Parade Imminent?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] It has been revealed that U.S. reconnaissance aircraft have been flying over the Korean Peninsula one after another. It is analyzed that these flights are reconnaissance missions to monitor North Korean military movements during the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party, with the possibility of a parade being held in mind.

According to the aircraft tracking site 'No callsign,' at 12:41 PM on the 6th, the flight path of a U.S. Navy reconnaissance aircraft EP-3E was detected over the Hongcheon area in Gangwon Province. This reconnaissance aircraft flew from near Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, to the northeast airspace of Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, and then returned to the West Sea.

Until now, the EP-3E has mainly been detected over the West Sea near Incheon, Gyeonggi, or Chungnam. It is unusual for it to be detected over Gangwon Province. The EP-3E is an aircraft responsible for collecting signals intelligence (SIGINT) and reconnaissance, capturing and analyzing all signals from the ground and air. It can also detect electronic signals emitted before and after missile launches.

On the 4th, five U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft were detected flying over the western to eastern front airspace, including the Seoul metropolitan area. At that time, the U.S. military flew one U.S. Air Force RC-135W Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft and four U.S. Army Guardrail (RC-12X) signals intelligence reconnaissance aircraft assigned to the U.S. Forces Korea over the front areas of the East and West Seas, including the Seoul metropolitan area.

Inside and outside the military, this is analyzed as reconnaissance to monitor the imminent holding of a North Korean military parade. Since Kim Jong-un took power, North Korea has held a total of nine military parades, but there has never been a case of holding a parade simultaneously with the Party Congress.

North Korea experts said, "North Korea is preparing a military parade this year because of the 'triple hardships' of the COVID-19 quarantine situation, sanctions against North Korea, and natural disasters, making a political event necessary to rally the hearts of the North Korean people."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.