Covering a North Korean military parade is an emotional
roller coaster. Foreign journalists stand just metres from the action in
Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square.
It is a visual and sensory barrage. Your eyes
are assaulted by the technicolour pallet of socialist-realist
propaganda. The ground at your feet shakes as tanks rumble past, leaving
a diesel aftertaste in your mouth.
Towards the end of every parade, it is tradition for the North Korean
leader to come to the edge of the balcony from where he watches the
proceedings and wave to foreign and local dignitaries sitting on either
side of the building. The photographers and cameramen file photos to the
Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s official state news outlet.
The photographer on the far right has his hair styled in a similar way
to Kim Jong Un, a common refrain amongst his bodyguards, aides and the
photographers which surround him.
This man is wearing the uniform of a North Korean tank commander. His
pose, the direction he is looking and the flags of both the ruling
Workers’ Party of Korea and the Korean People’s Army on the vehicles are
deliberately placed to evoke the composition used in North Korean
propaganda.
The float in the background is a stylised rocket artillery launcher,
adorned with the words “Pyongjin Line” on its front. Pyongjin refers to a
relatively recent North Korean policy which stresses the dual pursuit
of economic and nuclear development. The globe on the side of the float
features doves, a symbol of peace, but is flanked by North Korean
missile designs, including the recently tested “Pukkuksong”
submarine-launched ballistic missile.
New kinds of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) were shown for
the first time inside a new kind of canister-based launcher on Saturday.
The trucks upon which they are mounted are originally designed to move
lumber.
The men carrying flags are wearing North Korean university uniforms. The
float containing the statues is often marks the start of a section of
the parade led by people chosen to represent ordinary citizens, as
opposed to soldiers or military equipment.
