North Korea May Conduct Additional Provocations on Victory Day... "We Are Preventing Nuclear War"

Ahead of the 27th Victory Day, Possible 'Nuclear Threat' Provocations
"Economic Collapse While Preventing Nuclear War and Protecting Peace"
Parade Preparations... Will New Strategic Weapons Be Unveiled?

North Korea is expected to carry out additional provocations along with a large-scale military parade to mark the '70th Anniversary of Victory Day.' In particular, since North Korea has mentioned the possibility of 'using nuclear weapons' targeting the military movements of South Korea and the United States, there are also observations that it may conduct a show of force to demonstrate its nuclear delivery capabilities.

The Workers' Party organ, Rodong Sinmun, stated in an editorial titled "The Historic Significance of the Great Victory Will Be Eternal" on the 24th, "To completely eliminate the risk of war on the Korean Peninsula, absolute national security guarantees must be secured," and emphasized, "There can be no end point in strengthening military power. Regardless of the cost, military strength must be maintained and expanded at an even faster pace without pause."

On the morning of the 22nd, citizens at the Seoul Station waiting room are watching related reports as North Korea launched cruise missiles into the West Sea. [Image source=Yonhap News]

This is an attempt to justify a series of military provocations as acts of self-defense. North Korea fired several long-range cruise missiles in the early morning of the 22nd, following a similar launch on the 19th. This came just two days after declaring that the arrival of the U.S. strategic nuclear submarine USS Kentucky (SSBN-773) at Busan Port met the 'conditions for nuclear weapon use.' Military authorities believe North Korea is selecting vulnerable time windows consecutively to threaten a 'surprise nuclear strike.'

The cruise missiles launched this time are estimated to be 3 to 4 rounds of the Hwasal-1 or Hwasal-2, known as the 'North Korean version of the Tomahawk.' Although the flight speed of these cruise missiles is below the speed of sound (approximately 1,224 km/h), they fly at ultra-low altitudes by changing their trajectory, making detection and tracking by radar difficult. The range of Hwasal-1 or Hwasal-2 is up to 2,000 km, covering the entire territory of South Korea and Japan within their reach.

North Korea is talking about 'adopting offensive nuclear laws' and preemptive nuclear strikes, but it also claims that it has prevented the U.S.'s nuclear war threats. Rodong Sinmun argued, "If our country and people had focused only on economic development like others, nuclear wars causing greater disasters than all wars in history would have occurred dozens of times on this land, and today's civilized world would not exist."

New Solid-Fuel ICBM Suspected Missile Appears at North Korean Military Parade

This is a forced logic that North Korea has not achieved economic development because it has defended peace against the U.S. imperialists who want to start a nuclear war, and it appears to be an attempt to shift the responsibility for economic collapse and food shortages to external factors. Through Rodong Sinmun, which is publicly available to all residents, this kind of ideology is being instilled and enforced, interpreted as ideological control ahead of the '70th Victory Day' on the 27th.

Since this Victory Day is a 'turning year' marked by a multiple of five, which North Korea values highly, there is also a possibility that new strategic weapons will be showcased at the military parade. During the 75th anniversary parade of the founding of the Korean People's Army in February, North Korea unveiled the new solid-fuel-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) 'Hwasong-18' and conducted a test launch in April. Meanwhile, Voice of America (VOA) reported on the 20th that satellite images showed a large pontoon bridge installed near Kim Il-sung Square.

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