The Guardian Weekly

Eyewitness North Korea’s orange army

KCNA/REUTERS

Personnel in orange hazmat suits marched last Thursday during a paramilitary parade held to mark the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the republic.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that fighter jets flew in formation above the midnight parade at Kim Il-sung Square, in Pyongyang, and some conventional weapons were on display, including multiple rocket launchers and tractors carrying anti-tank missiles. But no ballistic missiles were seen or mentioned in the reports, and leader Kim Jong-un did not deliver a speech.

However, last weekend North Korea carried out successful tests of a new long-range cruise missile, KCNA announced, sparking fresh criticism from the US amid a protracted standoff over denuclearisation.

The missiles are “a strategic weapon of great significance” and flew 1,500km before hitting their targets and falling into the country’s territorial waters during the tests last Saturday and Sunday, KCNA said. The missiles travelled for 126 minutes along “oval and pattern-8 flight orbits”, it reported.

Experts say Kim is facing perhaps his toughest moment as he approaches a decade of rule, with North Korea maintaining a border lockdown indefinitely to keep out the coronavirus and no end in sight to international sanctions.

The United States military said Pyongyang’s latest missile tests posed “threats” to the country’s neighbours and beyond.

A Week In The Life Of The World/Inside

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2021-09-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://theguardianweekly.pressreader.com/article/281977495748488

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