Partai penguasa Korea Utara berusia 80 tahun dan Kim Jong Un menggelar karpet merah untuk perayaan besar | berita

Asia North Korea South Korea Donald Trump See all topics Facebook Tweet Email Link Link Copied!

Follow North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un has rolled out the red carpet for a host of foreign dignitaries, treating them to a spectacle of color and dancing, and all signs suggest he’ll also be showing off his country’s latest military hardware in a pomp-filled parade.

North Korea has kept celebratory plans for the 80th anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea tightly under wraps – much like the secretive and isolated state has done in the past with significant dates.

Images released by North Korean state media showed a huge celebration at Pyongyang’s massive May Stadium on Thursday, but the main event could be a parade in the capital Pyongyang, potentially on Friday night, involving tens of thousands of people, according to predictions from the South Korean military.

The anniversary celebration comes a month after the heavily sanctioned Kim scored a major diplomatic victory by traveling to Beijing for China’s massive military parade, where he had the rare chance to stand alongside political heavyweights Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the global stage.

Kim emerged from the visit with deeper strategic ties and a renewed friendship with China, North Korea’s longtime political and economic patron, as well as an increased vigor to pursue his missile and nuclear weapons program.

North Korea marked its 80th founding of the Workers' Party of Korea with colorful mass games and artistic performances at the May Stadium in Pyongyang on October 9, 2025.

KCNA North Korea and its new military ally Russia have repeatedly affirmed their closer relationship since signing a mutual defense pact last year, and Kim has sent thousands of troops, missiles and munitions to assist Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

In a show of those continued good ties, China and Russia sent delegations led notably by their number 2s to the celebrations in Pyongyang.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Vietnam’s Communist Party chief To Lam had front row seats as Kim kicked off celebrations Thursday with mass games and artistic performances.

To much enthusiastic flag-waving, North Korea showcased a medley of traditional and patriotic songs and coordinated dances involving thousands of people, including neatly-dressed children.

Impressive displays of martial arts featuring soldiers smashing cinder blocks over their bare stomachs culminated in a huge fireworks and pyrotechnics display.

“Today our people are standing in front of the world as powerful beings who know no insurmountable difficulties and no unachievable cause,” Kim said in a speech, North Korean state news agency KCNA reported.

Speaking to tens of thousands of spectators, Kim said that North Korea had coped with “growing nuclear war threats by the US imperialists” by simultaneously developing its “nuclear forces” and “economic construction.” “Our Party and government are still coping with our adversaries’ ferocious political and military moves of pressure by pursuing harder-line policies, holding fast to firm principles and employing brave, unflinching countermeasures,” Kim said, according to KCNA.

Huge displays of carefully choreographed propaganda involving massive crowds and meticulously rehearsed performances have long been a hallmark of the North Korean regime, particularly around key anniversaries.

The Workers’ Party of Korea is the sole ruling party of North Korea, blending communism with the words, sayings and ideals of the Kim dynasty, who have imposed their authoritarian rule on the country for three generations.

North Korean leader Kim Jong shakes hands with Vietnam’s Communist Party chief To Lam during a celebration in Pyongyang on October 9, 2025, in this photo released by North Korean state media KCNA.

KCNA What to expect?

North Korean military parades have previously been used to showcase the country’s latest developments in advanced weaponry and missiles that, in theory, could threaten the United States.

Military watchers play close attention to what Pyongyang chooses to show off at such events.

Analysts have raised the possibility that North Korea’s next-generation Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), its new Hwasong-11 Ma hypersonic glide vehicle, and other advanced weapons systems may be on display.

Col.

Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said last week that the military detected movements of vehicles and military equipment ahead of an expected parade.

Last month, Kim observed a test of a new high-thrust solid-fueled rocket engine for its newest ICBM, the Hwasong-20.

Compared with liquid-fueled missiles, solid-fueled rockets are more stable, and can be moved more easily to avoid detection before their launch, which can be initiated within minutes, experts say.

Related article In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, watches a test of a new rocket engine at an undisclosed location, North Korea, Sep 8, 2025.

KCNA/AP Emboldened Kim Jong Un oversees test of powerful new North Korean rocket engine days after China visit Over the weekend, Kim attended an exhibition featuring some of the country’s latest weapons, including a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) equipped with a hypersonic warhead feature, labeled “Hwasong-11Ma,” according to photos released by KCNA.

The Hwasong-11 series, North Korea’s variant of Russia’s Iskander missile, has an estimated maximum range of approximately 800 kilometers (497 miles).

Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said North Korea could also unveil advanced arms including AI-powered systems or various unmanned vehicles, during the parade.

“The weapons shown in the parade will likely be on an unprecedented scale,” Hong said.

“Rather than focusing simply on large numbers, North Korea seem to be set to prioritize revealing systems that are impactful in capability.” However, it is uncertain whether the highly anticipated Hwasong-20 will be shown, Hong added, as it hasn’t had a full launch test.

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches a test of a new rocket engine at an undisclosed location, North Korea, Sep 8, 2025.

KCNA/AP Observers are watching for possible test-launches of new, next-generation weapons around the October celebrations, Hong added.

Kim’s illegal nuclear weapons program has transformed North Korea into the most heavily sanctioned state in the world.

In the past few years, the country has ramped up its weapons program and made efforts to bolster its nuclear capability — including a secret missile base near its northern border with China, which could pose a “potential nuclear threat” to much of East Asia and the US.

Secrecy and security Secrecy is part and parcel of North Korean parades, especially when Kim is in attendance.

Berita correspondent Will Ripley attended the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party exactly 10 years ago.

“No one seemed to know when it would actually begin — not even our government minders.

That’s how things work in North Korea: you wait for hours until someone finally tells you to move,” he said.

Foreigners were sequestered to the Yanggakdo Hotel, which sits on its own island in the middle of the Taedong River in Pyongyang.

Related article Crews in Japan practice loading a dummy Tomahawk munition aboard the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Chokai at Yokosuka Naval Base near Tokyo last week.

JMSDF Japan is arming a warship with US missiles that can hit targets up to 1,000 miles away as Pacific arms race heats up “The location isn’t an accident.

The island makes it easier for the authorities to control movement in and out, so guests like us can’t wander the city alone.

You can look out the windows and see Pyongyang on all sides, but it might as well be another world,” Ripley said.

When journalists were finally herded to the parade grounds, they went through layers of security checks.

Phone and laptops had to be left behind.

“When the parade began, the vast square filled with tens of thousands of people.

Columns of soldiers marched in perfect step, their boots hitting the pavement with a sharp, rhythmic snap — the famous goose step,” Ripley said.

A warning to US bases in South Korea North Korea has a long history of fraught relations with the United States and South Korea, but now they’re particularly icy, with Kim frequently railing against both countries.

The North Korean leader last weekend said he had assigned “special assets to the major targets of our concern” and pledged to adopt additional military measures to respond to the US’s expanded military assets in South Korea.

“In direct proportion to the US military’s arms buildup in… (South Korea), our strategic concern about this region has also grown,” Kim said.

“The enemy, I think, will have to worry about which direction their security environment is moving in.” Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at South Korea’s Kyungnam University, said the “special assets” likely refer to “advanced strategic weapon systems encompassing tactical nuclear weapons and their delivery platforms, hypersonic missiles, and potentially AI-based drones and cyber capabilities.” Related article North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released September 22, 2025, by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency.

KCNA/Reuters Kim Jong Un says he has ‘fond memories’ of Trump, open to talks if US drops denuclearization demand Kim’s speech, which referenced South Korean security and criticized US military “buildup,” suggested “that these weapons are intended to directly threaten South Korea and US assets in the region,” Lim said.

He viewed Kim’s comments as “an explicit warning that US bases and key facilities in South Korea could become potential targets of North Korean strikes.” But in contrast to his usual anti-US rhetoric, Kim recently said that he had “fond memories” of President Donald Trump and that there is no reason to avoid dialogue with Washington — if it stops insisting his country give up its nuclear weapons.

South Korea will host a major summit of regional leaders later this month and Trump is expected to attend.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is viewed as a key opportunity for Trump to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi.

But his presence in the region could also put him in close proximity once again with Kim — six years after talks with Pyongyang during Trump’s last administration collapsed.

Trump signaled last month that he would be keen to sit down with Kim, though some say a meeting is unlikely.

“I will do that, and we’ll have talks.

He’d like to meet with me,” Trump claimed.

“We look forward to meeting with him, and we’ll make relations better.” Asia North Korea South Korea Donald Trump See all topics Facebook Tweet Email Link Link Copied!

Follow