Closing Labor Party Congress, North Korea Shows Off New Ballistic Missiles

JAKARTA - North Korea closed the week-long Labor Party Congress with a show of military force. In a parade held Thursday evening local time, the South Korean military showed off a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).

Not only that, the parade also featured various North Korean military weaponry, including tanks, rocket launchers, and new variants of short-range ballistic missiles.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un witnessed the military parade held at Kim Il-sung Square, Pyongyang.

"The most powerful weapon in the world, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, entered the plaza one after another, strongly demonstrating the strength of the revolutionary armed forces," the KCNA news agency reported.

Photos released by state media show the SLBM being labeled Pukguksong-5, potentially marking an upgrade over the Pukguksong-4 which was unveiled at a larger military parade last October.

However, on this occasion North Korea's largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which is said to be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching the United States, is not shown like the previous military parade.

"The new missile definitely looks longer," Michael Duitsman, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Professor at Ewha University, Seoul, South Korea Leif-Eric Easley believes this parade is not to provoke, because North Korea is also experiencing economic problems.

"This is not a provocation, but a worrying sign from Pyongyang. The economy is affected by the pandemic, closing borders, mismanagement of policies to international sanctions.