Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday congratulated North Korea’s young leader, Kim Jong-un, on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the North’s Workers’ Party, hoping that North Korean people could make “new and greater achievements” under the leadership of Kim.
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“The United States government believes North Korea has the capability to launch a nuclear weapon against the USA homeland and stands ready to defend itself against any such attacks”, a high-level us military official said on Wednesday.
The military parade kicking off the celebrations could hold a few surprises for analysts overseas who will be watching its display of weaponry very closely, particularly North Korea’s growing fleet of drone aircraft and long-range missiles.
The event was announced way back in February, and is expected to be the most elaborate of its kind since current leader Kim Jong-Un took over power following the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il, in 2011.
But open-source satellite imagery has been monitoring large-scale troop activities at the Mirim military air base in Pyongyang that has been rigged with a mock-up of Kim Illinois Sung Square, where the event will be held, and masses of Pyongyang citizens have for weeks been out in public plazas across the city practicing their roles for a torchlight parade in the evening.
Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, says the regime has been trying to reduce its dependence on China, which now absorbs as much as 90% of Pyongyang’s exports, compared with around 50% in the early 2000s, according to the Korean global Trade Association in Seoul. They also were ordered to give money to local officials, ostensibly to chip in for the costs of the celebration, the website reported.
One sign of that concern came in late 2013 when Mr. Kim executed his own uncle, Jang Song Thaek, an official who was widely seen as a proponent of closer trade links with Beijing.
North Korea’s commitment to developing nuclear weapons has impeded dialogue with the United States, but U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Mark Lippert told press on Thursday the United States is ready to engage in honest and trustworthy dialogue with Pyongyang, and that the “ball is in North Korea’s court”. Blinken also warned North Korea to discontinue its nuclear weapons program, but seemed to avoid making any provocative statements.
“This is an important opportunity for North Korea”, said Shi Yongming, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of worldwide Studies in Beijing.
Residents and regular visitors said tanks belching black smoke were seen barreling down thoroughfares on recent evenings in apparent preparation for anniversary events.
Proving resolute defensively, the Azkals earned an impressive result in enemy territory against a traditional Asian powerhouse in North Korea. Described in state media as “a core worker of the Workers’ Party Central Committee”, one of her tasks has been to promote Mr Kim’s image at the same time as ensuring his safety.
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Juche – usually translated as “self reliance” – is a peculiarly North Korean philosophy, which doesn’t really extend beyond the idea of not relying on the outside world.
