North Korea may seek to steal Olympic spotlight with massive military parade one day ahead of games

In a move seen on the Olympic Peninsula's Olympic leg, North Korea moved to the 70th anniversary of the founding of its regular army on February 8 - just one day before the winter games launch in the south.

The North has had a significant amount of new weapons, including so-called ballistic missiles, and massive military parades overseen by leader Kim Jong Un.

Although it is unclear whether this year will be such a mobilization, such an initiative will have to be made between the two Koreas, who agreed to cooperate for the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The North plans to join the Games from February 9 to 25, sending athletes, an artistic troupe and key officials.

According to the official Korean news agency, Pyongyang "will take concrete steps to significantly mark the founding anniversary of the Korean People's Army".

April 25, he added, will continue to be marked as the anniversary of the "Korean People's Revolutionary Army", established in 1932 by the country's founder, Kim Il Sung, as an anti-Japanese guerrilla force.

Until 1978, the KPA was marked on February 8, and the return on that date would give Pyongyang a stronger justification for organizing a military parade. Any show of military force would probably attract a global audience focusing on both the Olympic Games and the northern nuclear thrust.

A recent satellite image analysis by North Korea's NKPro website produced troops and military vehicles at an airfield near Pyongyang, supporting previous reports.

A South Korean government official told the Yonhap News Agency

"At Mirim airfield, 13,000 soldiers and some 200 vehicles were seen in preparation for the parade," said the unidentified official.

Yet these figures were last seen on April 15, when the North celebrated the 105th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung. This parade also shows a range of weapons, including what appeared at the time as a new intercontinental ballistic missile. In comparison, the parade on April 25 was relatively moderate.

Analysts said that although the size of the military, it is very likely that it is likely to have a negative impact on its latest military windows.

"Last year, they deployed several new rockets and then tested them one by one," said Shea Cotton, a North Korean expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California. "I could see them doing the same thing again this year."

They added that if they were lucky, they would minimize any event, he would be "really surprised" if that were the case.

"They set important milestones last year and I think they would like to show the world," he said.

Daniel Pinkston, East Asia expert at Troy University in Seoul, said a military parade would be consistent with the goals of northern leadership, which wants to "normalize" its military prowess in the eyes of the world. International community. and others in the area. "

Pinkston said the timing just before the Olympics of any parade would also be in Pyongyang's interest. This is due to growing dissatisfaction with South Korean President Moon Jae-in's handling of relations with Pyongyang and skepticism about Olympic cooperation. Moon's approval rating dropped to 66 percent, its lowest level in four months, according to a poll released Monday.

"Create divisions and divisions within the South Korean society, and between the United States and the Republic of Korea," said Mr. Pinkston, a member of the United Nations Security Council. from Korea.

"Given the nature of the ad, it's very important from their point of view, so expect an impressive show," he said.

North Korea continued to be the global culprit after conducting a series of missile tests and its sixth nuclear explosion last year.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula had been maintained following Pyongyang's claim that its nuclear program was "complete" after the successful launch of a long-range missile that experts believe could strike the continental United States . But hostilities were slowed by the two Koreas who agreed to cooperate at the Olympic Winter Games.

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