North Korea on Friday celebrated the 110th anniversary of the birth of the late founder Kim Il Sung with fireworks, a procession and an evening gala in Pyongyang’s main square, but without an expected military parade. Pyongyang with nuclear weapons usually uses the holidays – known as the Day of the Sun – to display its latest weapons. But as this year’s event follows a storm of weapons tests – three weeks ago the country conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test since 2017 – there was no sign of a parade. Leader Kim Jong Un visited his grandfather’s mausoleum and attended a “national meeting and public procession” in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square, but made no public statement. A senior official spoke at the meeting, saying that North Korea would overcome all difficulties and always emerge victorious, the state-run KCNA news agency reported. State media broadcast live footage of an evening gala in the square after sunset on Friday, following concerts, art exhibitions and ideological seminars. North Korea hosts a light show as part of its celebrations to mark the birth of the country’s founder Kim Il Sung, traditionally the country’s most important holiday [Cha Song Ho/AP Photo] There was also a festival of light in downtown Pyongyang, with dancing fountains and ornate boats on the Taedong River, according to the KCNA. The festival “artistically depicted” Kim Il Sung’s homeland and “the sacred mountain of the revolution, Mount Paektu,” the KCNA reported. Residents could take pictures in front of arches illuminated with phrases such as “Pyongyang is the best” and “We are the happiest in the world.” “I came to see the lighting festival with my daughter. Looking at it today, it’s very nice. “The most striking thing in particular is what he calls ‘autonomy,’” Ri Bom Chol, a 40-year-old doctor, told AFP in Pyongyang.
‘LOVE IS FOREVER’
Analysts, along with South Korean and US officials, widely expected North Korea to signal the situation with new weapons or even a test of the country’s banned nuclear weapons. But there was no mention in the state media of any military parade. “The Kim regime needs more sources of national pride and legitimacy than military parades,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said in an email. “Thus, the public commemorative events around the birthday of its founder tried to depict an economy that is not only sustainable but growing and a society that is not only united but also modern and happy. “But this does not represent a shift from North Korea’s military build-up. Kim Jong-un’s stated goal of developing tactical nuclear weapons, Kim Yo-jong’s recent threats to Seoul, and satellite imagery of the Punggye-ri tunnel activity indicate an impending nuclear test. “Additional missile launches are also expected to improve weapons delivery systems.” The Seoul-based NK News website said the satellite imagery analysis indicated the training took place at the Mirim military parade training base, with several thousand soldiers parading in formation. Images from Planet Labs also showed a growing number of tire marks around a safe heavy-duty garage area on site, indicating that a drill was taking place, he added. Experts say April 25 – the anniversary of the founding of the North Korean military – is the next most likely date for the parade. “Given that the two anniversaries are just 10 days apart, it seems a bit difficult to hold a parade on both occasions,” Yang Mu-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP. People bow in front of statues of North Korea’s late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il during a celebration of Sun Day on Friday [Jon Chol Jin/AP Photo] Kim Il Sung died in 1994, but he is the “eternal president” of the country, and his body is in a lighted chamber at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the outskirts of the capital. North Koreans have been taught to respect Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il since birth, and all adults wear badges depicting one or both men. “As the days go by, the longing for the great leader grows,” Ri Guang Hyok told a French news agency correspondent in Pyongyang as they visited the statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. “Love is forever,” said 33-year-old Ri.
