North Korea displays most nuclear missiles ever on parade

North Korea showed off its missile-making capabilities during an evening military parade, state media reported on Thursday, displaying more intercontinental ballistic missiles than ever before and hinting at a new solid-fuel weapon.

The country moved forward with its ballistic missile program, testing dozens of advanced missiles last year, despite UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions.

“This time, Kim Jong Un has let North Korea’s long-range and tactical missile forces speak for themselves,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “The message that North Korea wants to send internationally demonstrating its ability to deter and coerce will likely come in the form of solid-fuel missile tests and the detonation of a miniature nuclear device.”

Footage released by state media from Wednesday night’s parade showed as many as 11 Hwasong-17s, North Korea’s largest intercontinental ballistic missile, supposedly capable of striking almost anywhere in the world with a nuclear warhead.

Eleven missiles could be enough to overwhelm current US missile defenses, Ankit Panda of the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said on Twitter.

“This is cumulatively the largest number of ICBM launchers we have ever seen in a North Korean parade,” he said in a tweet.

The Hwasong-17 was tested for the first time last year. Alongside them in the parade was what some analysts said could be a prototype or mockup of a new solid-fuel missile.

Developing a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile has long been seen as a key goal for the country, as it could make its nuclear missiles harder to locate and destroy during a conflict.

North Korea held the parade in Pyongyang to mark the 75th anniversary of its army’s founding, state media said. Leader Kim Jong Un attended with his daughter, who is seen as his possible successor.