[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] North Korea's Late-Night and Severe Cold Weather Military Parade... Why?

Parade scene. Photo by Bloomberg

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] It has been detected that North Korea conducted a military parade at Kim Il-sung Square using the late-night hours on the 10th.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff stated, "South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are closely tracking this activity, including the possibility that it is either the main event or a rehearsal."

Previously, North Korea also held a military parade at night last October to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Party, mobilizing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and others. Military authorities are reportedly analyzing with a focus on the likelihood that it was the main event. If the main event took place, it is expected that Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, attended and received the parade report.

In particular, the decision to proceed with the parade despite the harsh weather with temperatures dropping below minus 16 degrees Celsius in Pyongyang is seen as a political event aimed at rallying the people's spirit amid the overlapping challenges of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), economic crisis, natural disasters, and price instability.

However, the scale appears to have been reduced. North Korea mobilized about 12,000 personnel for the parade last October, but this year it is known to have mobilized about 9,000. It is said that the parade was conducted on a scale just enough to demonstrate presence ahead of the inauguration of the Biden administration in the United States.

Since North Korea's Korean Central Television recorded and broadcast the parade last year on the day of the event, it is expected that footage of the party congress parade may be released as early as the same day.

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