North Korean leader Kim Jong-un showed off a new long-range intercontinental missile during a military parade in Pyongyang on Friday, where foreign leaders were also present.
The yet-to-be-tested Hwasong-20 was described by the state-owned Korean Central News Agency as being the “most powerful nuclear strategic weapon system.”
The government also displayed ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and shorter-range supersonic missiles during the military parade, which marked the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party.
Putin and KIM JONG UN BEGIN BILATERAL TALKS IN BEIJING AFTER ATTENDING HUGE CHINESE MILTARY PARADE
Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Lam, left, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Russian Security Council Vice Chairman and United Russia party leader Dmitry Medvedev attend a reception on Friday to mark the 80th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Ekaterina Shtukina, Sputnik, pool photo via AP)
Kim said during the parade that the military “must continue to evolve into an invincible force that eliminates all threats.”
Foreign dignitaries at the parade included Chinese Premier Li Qiang, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and To Lam, the head of the Vietnamese Communist Party.
Kim also met Friday with Medvedev, who praised the sacrifice of North Korean soldiers fighting with Russia in Ukraine.
NUCLEAR THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA QUIET WARS IN GAZA AND UKRAINE AT UNGA
A North Korean government photo shows a new intercontinental ballistic missile, called the Hwasong-20, during a military parade Friday in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
Kim said he hoped to strengthen ties with Russia and work together toward common goals.
Last summer, Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong warned the US against trying to restart denuclearization talks, adding that Pyongyang would view any attempt to pressure North Korea to achieve denuclearization as “nothing but a travesty.”
In this North Korean government photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, fourth from right, and Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, fourth from left, hold a meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
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“If the US fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK-US meeting will remain a ‘hope’ of the US side,” Kim Yo Jong said, referring to the nation by its official name: the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
