Dictator Kim Jong Un led a parade to commemorate his grandfather and founder of North Korea

The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, attended a huge civil parade in the capital, Pyongyang, to commemorate the birthday of his grandfather and founder of the country in which thousands of people marched in a choreographed display of loyalty to the Kim family, state media said Saturday.

The reports did not mention any speech or comment by Kim during Friday night's event, and apparently the country commemorated its most important national holiday without displaying its military equipment amid growing tensions over its nuclear program.

In recent weeks, commercial satellite images have shown preparations for a huge military parade in Pyongyang, which could take place on April 25 — on the anniversary of the founding of the North Korean Army — and show the most advanced weapons in Kim's nuclear arsenal, such as ballistic missiles intercontinental.

Pyongyang is also expected to intensify its weapons tests in the coming weeks or months, which could include resuming nuclear explosive tests or missile test flights over Japan, in an attempt to force a response from the US government, which is most concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its rivalry with China.

State media showed Kim waving from a balcony above Kim Il Sung Square, named after his grandfather, while huge columns of people with red plastic flowers and floats with political messages marched underneath.

The state press provided intensive coverage of the commemoration, which included the opening of new apartments, a festival of lights and floral tributes.

For Leif-Eric Easley, an associate professor of international studies at Ewha Women's University in Seoul, it was a calculated decision to show the new apartments and people with smartphones as “the Kim regime needs more sources of national pride and legitimation.”

Ri Il Hwan, a member of the Politburo of the ruling Workers Party, called for loyalty during a speech stating that North Koreans “will always be victorious” under Kim's command. Apparently, Kim did not give any speech during the event and the state media did not mention comments about the United States or its rival South Korea.

The parade took place hours before thousands of young people danced in the square and fireworks launched from the bank of a nearby river lit up the night.

Kim Il Sung's birthday is the most important national holiday in a country that the Kim family has ruled under a strong cult of personality since its founding in 1948. This week's celebrations for the 110th anniversary of his birth come at a time when his grandson tries to revive nuclear maneuvers to force the United States to accept the idea of a North Korea as a nuclear power and to withdraw the stifling economic sanctions against him.

The hermetic nation began 2022 with a series of weapons tests, including the first flight of an ICBM since 2017. The South Korean military has also detected signs that a nuclear test center that had been partially dismantled weeks after the first summit between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump is being rebuilt in June 2018.

(With information from AP and AFP)

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