Dial 'M' For Madman

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is known for its penchant for missile development, particularly on a scale that would impact many nations around the world. With the US pushing all of Kim Jong-un’s buttons, this is likely to encourage the nation to back these developments further.

- Beth Stevenson

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) carried out a military parade on 15th April, touting its offensive and defensive wares. Although the event is marked every year, relations between the ‘Hermit Kingdom’ and powers in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, plus the type of new missile technology on display, have led to heightened concerns over the contents of the parade, leading to much talk on what the intentions of this ‘country of concern’ are. Cast against much rhetoric directed at its so-called Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un from US President Donald Trump, the April parade was interpreted as a warning by many observers, who recognised that launch systems capable of reaching the US were being paraded by the DPRK, namely solid fuel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launchers displayed during the parade, which although seemingly only at prototype stage, would have a long enough range to reach the US once fully developed, and could be rapidly deployed: “The big reveal of the parade was the ICBM launchers, and several types of missile, including a submarine-launched missile,” Euan Graham, director of the international security programme at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, based in Sydney, southeast Australia told AMR: “The obvious message from the ICBM launchers being included was a statement of (the DPRK’s) intent to develop something with the range to hit the United States, and although a lot of people have cast doubt on how capable they are, their track record is usually that once something has been put in the parade, they do end up developing it.”

Parade Gloss