Image source: topwar.ru
At the parade held on February 8 in Pyongyang in honor of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army, in addition to other types of weapons, 11 Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and 5 large containers were demonstrated for the first time, in which, according to some assumptions, there were new North Korean solid-fuel ICBMs. American experts Bruce Bennett and Yong Jun Kim decided to find out in an article for the online publication 19FortyFive why North Korean leader Kim Jong Un needed such a demonstration of a large number of ICBMs.
The simplest explanation, experts say, is that the leader of the DPRK thus showed his people living in very difficult conditions that he is still a powerful ruler who is not only respected, but also feared throughout the world. The presence of nuclear weapons, especially delivered by ICBMs, should just confirm this.
The demonstration of military force was supposed to return the attention of Western leaders to the chairman of the DPRK. With the United States fully focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the threats from China, US President Biden did not even mention North Korea in his February address to Congress. The demonstration of North Korean ICBMs may have been aimed at returning the attention of the Western media to Kim.
Having shown the world the presence of missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads not only to the territory of hostile South Korea and Japan, but also to the United States, Kim Jong-un openly warned Washington, Seoul and Tokyo that in the event of an attempted military invasion of the DPRK, Pyongyang has something to respond to the aggressor. Kim may also hope to destroy the alliance of South Korea and the United States by threatening to use nuclear weapons against the United States if Washington uses nuclear weapons to support South Korea.
— the authors of the article believe.
Experts have suggested that some of the ICBMs shown at the parade could be dummies. After all, even successful missile tests, which Pyongyang is defiantly producing more and more often, do not at all mean the DPRK's ability to create a sufficient number of long-range nuclear weapons capable of causing significant damage to potential enemies.
The authors of the article believe that the United States and its allies in Northeast Asia underestimate the threats of the North Korean leader and his desire to increase the arsenal of solid-fuel ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads. Washington is too keen on the conflict in Ukraine and risks missing the moment when North Korea will have dozens of ICBMs and hundreds of nuclear weapons, the authors of the article warn.
