North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared on a platform in Kim Il Sung Square and made a greeting to the crowd, but there was no mention of him making a speech, according to Rodong Sinmun.
North Korean experts noted that images of Kim appeared to show that the North Korean leader has lost weight, adding a report to the June state media that had downplayed his importance.
“It’s striking that Kim Jong Un is healthier in these photos from yesterday,” he tweeted to Martyn Williams, a fellow who worked at 38 North Project at the Stimson Center. “However, he’s doing it – and there are theories – he looks much better than he did a few months ago.”
State media reports made no mention of Kim Jong Un’s sister and senior official Kim Yo Jong.
During the parade, planes flew over Pyongyang firing flares and paratroopers fell from the planes into the night sky, Rodong Sinmun said.
On the street, the bands led a parade, which included workers, research units and an “emergency prevention unit,” he added.
The country, notoriously lonely, broke almost all ties with the outside world in 2020 to prevent an influx of coronavirus cases. And so far it seems to have worked.
North Korea has not reported a major outbreak of Covid-19 and there have been no indications that it had occurred, although experts doubt Pyongyang’s claim that the country has not seen any cases of the virus.
Most, if not all, foreign diplomats and aid workers have left the country, alleging shortages of goods and extreme restrictions on daily life.
Troops and tractors, but no missiles
Early photos of Thursday’s parade showed no arsenal of North Korean missiles. New or updated versions of the country’s missiles are often shown in military parades.
But the armaments shown in images of the square Thursday early were of the smaller battlefield variety – or as mundane as tractors – as well as legions of troops.
“The members of the parade passing through the streets of the capital responded with a firm heart with the firm commitment to propel the strengthening of combat capabilities and defend the rear of the socialist homeland as firm as a rock,” it was said in the KCNA report.
Ri Il Hwan, a member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, made a speech at the parade, according to KCNA, saying North Korea will increase the People’s Army, a pillar to defend the state. ” and will increase its defense industries to turn “the whole country into a fortress.”
CNN’s Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report.