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N Korea Holds Anniversary Parade Without ICBMs That Can Reach US - Reports

A toning down in the demonstration of the country’s military might was not the only unusual thing during the anniversary parade. The DPRK’s leader Kim Jong-un also reportedly didn't address the country.
Sputnik

Pyongyang didn't show off its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) during the military parade devoted to the 70th anniversary of the DPRK's founding, AFP reported. The parade mostly featured 12,000 soldiers, tanks and regular missiles instead. North Korea's leader earlier announced that his country would halt the development of its nuclear armaments.

The parade was preceded by a historic meeting between DPRK leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump in June, where the two discussed, among other things, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Although the meeting was concluded by the signing of a document with rather general points regarding cooperation between the countries, the high-level talks about its details continued after the summit.

Kim Jong-un's Appearance

The DPRK leader Kim Jong-un attended the event, but didn't address the country, passing that privilege to the head of North Korea's parliament Kim Yong-nam, whose speech mostly concentrated on the country's economy, according to AP and CNN. The event was attended by several high-level foreign officials, including chief of China's parliament, Li Zhanshu, and the speaker of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament Valentina Matvienko.

READ MORE: Liberal Media Reports ‘Sabotaging' Peace with Claims of DPRK Nuclear Advancement

Prior to the anniversary parade, the North Korean leader had disappeared from public view for over two weeks, causing concerns about his disappearance. On September 5, though, he was spotted seemingly in good health at the funeral of Chu Guchan, a Workers' Party of Korea official.

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