North Korea hosts secretive midnight military parade, but keeps its ballistic missiles hidden

North Korea has celebrated the 73rd anniversary of its founding with a secretive night-time military parade that swapped its usual defiant display of ballistic missiles for rows of marching security forces in orange hazmat suits.

Kim Jong-un, the leader of the reclusive country, oversaw the parade of paramilitary and public security brigades, which began at midnight in the central Kim Il Sung square in the capital Pyongyang, according to the state news agency, KCNA.

Dressed in a pale grey suit and looking visibly thinner after months of speculation over his ongoing weight loss, Kim was seen hugging children among the unmasked crowds.

Photos released in June first revealed that Kim – known to be a heavy drinker and fond of culinary delicacies – was dramatically shedding the pounds.

The fluctuation prompted some concerns about the health of the autocratic young leader, who retains an iron grip over the country’s nuclear weapons programme. At Wednesday’s national celebration, he appeared to be jovial but reportedly did not give a speech.

Previous military parades have been notable for showcasing new additions to the North’s arsenal, including a pre-dawn display last October of previously unseen intercontinental ballistic missiles, but this time state media made no mention of weapons.

© Provided by The Telegraph Kim Jong-Un looked slimmer and jovial as he hugged children at the parade - KCNA via KNS

The pomp of the parade appeared to be focused on boosting domestic morale amid severe food shortages and an economic crisis that has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Among the photographs released by state media were images of tractors and fireworks, and the procession was said to be mainly composed of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards (WPRG), a civilian defence organisation that includes many farmers.

“The columns of emergency epidemic prevention and the Ministry of Public Health were full of patriotic enthusiasm to display the advantages of the socialist system all over the world, while firmly protecting the security of the country and its people from the worldwide pandemic,” the KCNA said.

North Korea has not confirmed any Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, although its assertions of being entirely free from the coronavirus have been questioned.

Pyongyang took a decision last January to completely seal its borders to protect the country from Covid-19 and to avert the collapse of its struggling public health system.

The move meant that trade of vital goods like food, fuel and fertiliser with neighbouring China plummeted. Kim also acknowledged in June that the food situation was “getting tense” after grain crops were damaged by typhoons last year.

On Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee added to the country’s global isolation by banning it from the 2022 Winter Olympics for failing to send a team to the Tokyo Games over virus fears.

But Pyongyang’s propaganda machine has been keen to stress the notion of “self-reliance” in the handling of the crisis.

North Korea recently declined three million vaccine doses from China, and the show of bright hazmat suits appeared calculated to reinforce the message that the regime was stepping up to protect its people. 

Reference: The telegraph: Nicola Smith