North Korea remains low

North Korea held a military parade at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang on Sept. 9, to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the country's founding, shown in this photo released by the North's state media organization, the Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo

North Korea did not mark the 76th founding anniversary of its ruling Workers' Party with a military parade, Sunday.

Instead, the totalitarian state was focused on bolstering ideological education in what seemed to be a move to tighten leader Kim Jong-un's grip on power.

According to military sources, the North Korean regime showed no signs of preparation for the military parade, which has been a fixture on official memorial days, where new or updated versions of the country's missiles, strategic weapons and other military hardware are usually shown.

However, speculation that Pyongyang might skip a military parade had been widespread, as traditionally, it has celebrated the anniversary in a larger manner in years ending with a five or zero.

Plus, North Korea previously staged a toned-down midnight military parade on Sept. 9 to mark the 73rd anniversary of its founding, further lowering the possibility of the military event occurring.

"A military parade requires months-long preparation, enabling the South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities to detect it, but there had been little chance of the North holding a military parade in the lead-up to the Oct. 10 anniversary," said Park Won-gon, an associate professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University.

"In addition, it would not be easy to conduct a military parade for the second straight month."

While skipping a military parade, the Rodong Sinmun, the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, rallied support for Kim and highlighted his efforts in helping people recover from economic challenges, such as recent flooding and the closure of the border due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Park said there was still a chance that North Korea may opt for a military provocation in the near future.

"While promoting its five-year military plan, the North has tested its newly developed weapons after Kim doubled down on his ambitions to develop more sophisticated military assets during January's party congress," Park said.

"For example, North Korea may announce the rollout of its 3,000-ton submarine, unveiled in July 2019, among others."

According to the intelligence authorities, North Korea is believed to have completed the construction of the new submarine and it is expected to be capable of carrying three submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

"North Korea is in an aggressive mode to pressure the United States for more concessions ahead of their nuclear talks," Park added.

In September, the Kim regime launched missiles on four occasions, including a newly developed hypersonic missile.

"Something could still happen in October," he added.