A North Korean missile is unlikely to streak across the sky Saturday, when the country celebrates the 75th anniversary of its ruling party, but observers expect them to roll out “something big” for a massive military parade marking the event in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square.
The parade, less than a month ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election, will be a chance for nuclear-armed North Korea to showcase its growing arsenal, giving Washington and its allies in Tokyo and Seoul a glimpse of the new capabilities it has developed amid stalled denuclearization talks — and returning Pyongyang to the media spotlight.
In January, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned that he would “in the near future” reveal a “new strategic weapon” to the world while also declaring that his country is no longer bound by its self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests.