Flanked by Allies, North Korean Leader Unveils Missile Capable of Reaching the U.S.

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - In a nighttime spectacle designed to showcase his nation's growing military prowess and its strengthening alliances, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday presided over a massive military parade in Pyongyang, using the 80th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party to unveil a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) reportedly capable of striking the United States.

Flanked by high-ranking dignitaries from both China and Russia, including Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Russia's former president, Dmitry Medvedev, Mr. Kim sent an unapologetic message to the West: that North Korea, armed with nuclear weapons and backed by powerful friends, is determined to stand up to Washington and will no longer be treated as a pariah state.

The parade, a stunning display of goose-stepping soldiers and powerful weaponry, served as a potent symbol of a shifting geopolitical landscape and a loose but increasingly confident anti-Western axis.

The enormous military procession, which rolled through the rain-soaked Kim Il Sung Square on Friday evening, was a carefully choreographed event intended for multiple audiences.

Domestically, it served as powerful propaganda, celebrating the longevity and power of the ruling party. 

Internationally, it was a clear signal of Mr. Kim's growing confidence and his country's increasing geopolitical value to both Beijing and Moscow as they push back against the American-led global order.

According to The New York Times, joining Mr. Kim on the viewing platform were Premier Li Qiang, China's second-highest-ranking official; Mr. Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin; and To Lam, Vietnam's Communist Party chief.

The presence of such a senior-level Chinese delegation was particularly significant, with Mr. Li being the first Chinese premier to visit North Korea since 2009. Top officials from Laos also attended, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

This high-profile gathering of foreign dignitaries comes just one month after Mr. Kim's own prominent appearance at a massive military parade in Beijing, where, as reported by The Washington Post, he was treated with unusual respect, placed on either side of Chinese leader Xi Jinping along with Mr. Putin in a clear display of an emerging anti-Western alliance.

The parade in Pyongyang was a reciprocal gesture, designed to send a similar message. As Jenny Town, a Korea expert at the Stimson Center in Washington, told The Washington Post, "It really emphasizes the idea that they’re not a pariah state, that they have improved their political standing... now, the world is coming to him."

The centerpiece of the parade, and the most alarming development for Western military analysts, was the public debut of a new ICBM, which state media has dubbed the "Hwasong-20."

According to The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Kim first mentioned this weapon shortly before his trip to Beijing in September. The missile, which appeared encased during the parade, is believed to be a solid-fuel rocket. This is a significant technological leap, as solid-fuel engines allow missiles to be deployed much faster and make them far more difficult for adversaries to detect and intercept before launch.

While the Hwasong-20 is believed to still be in development and has not yet been test-launched, its potential to carry a nuclear warhead to the U.S. mainland provides Mr. Kim with a more powerful deterrent and far greater leverage in any future negotiations.

The parade also served as an opportunity to highlight the deepening military ties between North Korea and Russia. 

As detailed by The New York Times, a contingent of North Korean soldiers who fought for Russia in its war against Ukraine marched in the parade, carrying the flags of both nations. South Korean officials have estimated that North Korea has provided Russia with 15,000 troops and large shipments of artillery shells, rockets, and missiles for its war effort.

In a sign of the warming ties, the Russian delegation attending the parade included the acting governor of the Kursk region, where North Korean troops helped drive out Ukrainian forces, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper also reported a crucial detail from Ukrainian intelligence officials, who have said that the accuracy of the North Korean-produced missiles has improved following lessons learned from the battlefield.

In his speech before the parade, Mr. Kim made a veiled but clear show of defiance against the West. He declared that the North Koreans will continue to "fulfill their responsibilities in the joint struggle of the progressive mankind for opposing injustice and hegemony and defending justice and peace," according to The New York Times.

He also stated that "Our army should continue to grow into an invincible entity that destroys all threats approaching our range of self-defense," as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The procession of advanced weaponry on display was extensive, including attack drones, modern battle tanks equipped with electronic warfare systems, rocket launchers, and various types of missiles, including a short-range ballistic missile equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle, which was unveiled at a defense expo earlier in the week, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

The Washington Post noted that this defense expo gave a preview of the weapons that would be featured, including North Korea's variant of Russia's Iskander missile and other ICBMs like the Hwasong-18 and Hwasong-19.

The presence of senior Chinese and Russian officials watching this parade of nuclear-capable missiles reinforces a significant and worrying shift in the policies of both Beijing and Moscow regarding North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

Washington has long campaigned for the "complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling" of Pyongyang's arsenal. In recent months, however, Russian officials have indicated that they now consider North Korea's denuclearization to be a "closed" matter.

Similarly, as reported by The New York Times, China has also stopped mentioning "denuclearization" in its official statements following high-level meetings with North Korea. 

"When the same formulaic term vanishes from multiple official documents within weeks, it signals intentional policy shift, not bureaucratic oversight,” Seong-Hyon Lee, a senior fellow at the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations, told the newspaper.

For the United States, the message from the parade is stark and unambiguous.

As Mr. Lee explained to The New York Times, the spectacle repositions North Korea "from client state to indispensable partner" in a "collective challenge to Western strategic dominance."

He added, "To the United States, the message is that the established playbook for North Korea is obsolete, with Kim flanked by top Chinese and Russian officials while displaying formidable weapons including potential multi-warhead I.C.B.M.s.”

This display of military might and international solidarity comes at a critical moment for Mr. Kim as he navigates the return of President Donald Trump to the White House. Mr. Trump, who met the North Korean leader three times during his first term, has expressed interest in another meeting. 

However, as The Wall Street Journal reported, Mr. Kim has stated that he will only sit down with the U.S. president if Washington drops its long-standing policy of demanding North Korea's denuclearization.

An opportunity for a potential meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea at the end of October has been complicated by escalating trade tensions, with Trump threatening on Friday to cancel the exchange, according to The New York Times.

As the geopolitical chessboard continues to shift, the message from Pyongyang's rain-soaked streets is clear: Kim Jong Un feels he is in a position of strength, and he has powerful friends who agree.