Massive parade reinforces Kim’s NK reign
Print Edition
NORTH Korea held a massive parade in Pyongyang yesterday, turning the capital’s giant square into a sea of pink, to celebrate a ruling party congress when supreme leader Kim Jong Un was elected chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party.
Kim presided over the event from a balcony overlooking the expansive Kim Il Sung Square, with tens of thousands of people waving bouquets of artificial flowers over their heads as the young leader arrived.
North Korea regularly holds mass military parades to celebrate key dates and show off its latest military hardware, including long-range ballistic missiles that are still under development.
Yesterday’s events were an all-civilian affair apart from a military band. But several of the giant floats had military themes, showing cardboard mock-ups of missiles and space-launch vehicles. “A strong nation needs nuclear arms and a strong army,” read the sign on the missile-themed float.
The country’s nominal head of state Kim Yong Nam addressed the parade before it began, praising Kim Jong Un and congratulating him on his election the day before as chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party.
“The election... showed the absolute trust... of our military and people in the great leader Kim Jong Un,” Kim said.
Leader Kim waved briefly to the crowd to loud applause but made no speech. Hundreds of balloons were released into the sky to boost the festive effect.
The four-day party congress, which ended on Monday, marked the first such gathering of the party’s top decision-making body in more than 35 years.
The event gave the 33-year-old Kim, who came to power following the death of his father Kim Jong Il in 2011, a podium to secure his status as supreme leader and rightful inheritor of the one-party state founded by his grandfather Kim Il Sung.
The congress formally endorsed Kim’s legacy “byungjin” doctrine of building an effective nuclear arsenal in tandem with economic development.
Yesterday’s parade saw row after row of massed marchers, waving pink paper flowers, colorful balloons and red party flags, and chanting “Mansae (Long Live)!” in unison.
Some carried giant banners reading “Mansae for comrade Kim Jong Un, the top leader of our party and people!” and “Glory to our beloved leader!”
On the square’s main part, static crowds formed elaborate mosaic images of the party and national flags.
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