World

North Korean parade marks 70th anniversary

October 10, 2015 6:44 pm

Isolated North Korea marked the 70th anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party on Saturday with a massive military parade overseen by leader Kim Jong Un and a senior Chinese official who had delivered President Xi Jinping’s call for stronger ties.

Thousands of troops stood at attention in perfect formation under a blue autumn sky in Pyongyang’s main Kim Il Sung Square, named after Kim Jong Un’s grandfather and the founder of the nation, as Mr Kim made his way to the podium.

Kim was accompanied by senior Chinese Communist Party official Liu Yunshan and flanked by senior North Korean party and military officials.

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Troop carriers could be seen mobilizing soldiers for the parade, expected to be one of the largest held by North Korea, which has been slapped with UN and US sanctions for its nuclear weapons and rocket programmes.

Impoverished North Korea and rich, democratic South Korea, backed by the United States, remain technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty.