North's Mirim Airfield Movements... Military Parade Likely on the 16th of Next Month

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] It has been confirmed that North Korea is preparing a military parade to mark the 80th birthday of Kim Jong-il (Gwangmyeongseongjeol) on the 16th of next month. Having repeatedly test-fired missiles since the beginning of the new year, North Korea is likely to deliver domestic and international messages through the parade rather than provocations during the Beijing Olympics period.

A senior government official said on the 25th, "Currently, about 2,000 troops and their transport vehicles have been spotted gathering at the Mirim Airfield," adding, "At the airfield under the Air Force's 1st Flying Squadron near Pyongyang, MiG fighters are flying 7 to 8 times a day."

The military authorities expect that a military parade will be held on the 16th of next month to celebrate Kim Jong-il's birthday, considering the speed and number of troops gathering at Mirim Airfield.

It is uncertain whether North Korea will hold a nighttime military parade this time as well. North Korea held three consecutive nighttime military parades: the 75th anniversary of the Workers' Party founding parade (October 2020), the 8th Workers' Party Congress (January 2021), and the 75th anniversary of the Party founding parade (September 2021). The military is currently monitoring the initial preparation stage of North Korea's parade to determine in what form the parade will be conducted.

There have been no signs yet of additional missile launches by North Korea. In response to a question about North Korea's missile launch trends at the Ministry of National Defense's regular briefing the day before, a military official said, "South Korea and U.S. intelligence agencies are closely cooperating to carefully monitor related trends, and at this time, there is nothing to report."

North Korea test-fired a hypersonic glide vehicle on the 5th and 11th, an improved Iskander short-range ballistic missile (KN-23) on the 14th, and a short-range ballistic missile (KN-24), known as the North Korean version of the ATACMS, on the 17th.

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