North Korea’s planned military parade on the eve of the South’s Winter Olympics is a carefully calculated move to use the global spotlight on the peninsula to reassert its military power, analysts say. Pyongyang last month announced it would commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of its military on February 8 — changing the date from April 25 and switching it to the day before the Games’ opening ceremony.
The news provoked consternation in Winter Games host South Korea, coming just days after the nuclear-armed North agreed to participate in Pyeongchang following months of cajoling by Seoul to join in a “peace Olympics”.
The latest satellite imagery showed 13,000 troops rehearsing at an training facility on the outskirts of Pyongyang, according to respected US website 38 North.
The North’s participation in the Games has been hailed by Seoul and the IOC but is seen with suspicion by critics who describe it as an attempt to soften Pyongyang’s image and to eventually ease sanctions on the regime without it giving up its nuclear ambitions.
Washington has said it would “prefer” the parade not take place on Thursday.
The Kim regime has proven adept at grabbing global attention for political purposes.
Pyongyang has often test-fired missiles or threatened to do so ahead of visits by high-profile diplomatic figures to Seoul, or around presidential elections or inaugurations in South Korea or the US.
It normally invites hundreds of foreign journalists to show off the spectacle to the world — although it has not done so on this occasion.
Kim appears to be seeking to rally support from his people by showcasing and portraying the North’s military might, said Cheong Seong-Chang, analyst at the Sejong Institute think tank.
In Seoul, the parade is seen as a slap in the face of the dovish South Korean President Moon Jae-In, who advocates engagement with the North and strongly pushed for the North’s participation in the Games.
A February 8 parade, 38 North said, would “likely warrant much criticism from sceptics of inter-Korean dialogue. However, for domestic audiences, it would cap off a year of dramatic progress in North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes”.
“The parade is most likely aimed at showing off its new status as a nuclear power,” South Korea’s JoongAng daily said in an editorial on Monday. “We need to welcome North Korean athletes, but must not beg for dialogue,” it added. — AFP
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