SEOUL: State media reported on Thursday that North Korea, which has nuclear weapons, demonstrated the strength of its missile industry during a nighttime parade by displaying more intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) than ever before and giving a hint at a new solid-fuel weapon.

On Wednesday, North Korea celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of its army by holding the eagerly awaited nighttime military parade in Pyongyang, according to state news agency KCNA.

The head of state, Kim Jong Un, attended with his daughter, who is tipped to take on a leadership position in the hereditary dictatorship in the future.

According to KCNA, the parade also included tactical nuclear units, and the ICBMs demonstrated North Korea's "greatest" nuclear strike capability.

The largest ICBM in North Korea, the Hwasong-17, was depicted in as many as 11 images released by state media. It is thought that the Hwasong-17 has the range to launch a nuclear warhead almost anywhere in the world.

Ankit Panda of the American-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace tweeted, "This is cumulatively more ICBM launchers than we've ever seen at a North Korean parade."

The number of warheads on such ICBMs, he continued, might be sufficient to overwhelm the country's current missile defense systems. Last year saw the Hwasong-17's initial testing.

The country has forged ahead with its ballistic missile program, launching larger and more advanced missiles despite United Nations Security Council resolutions and sanctions.

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

The Hwasong-17s were followed by what some analysts said could be a prototype or mockup of a new solid-fuel ICBM in canister launchers.

According to Panda, the canisterized ICBMs looked different from the ones displayed in a 2017 parade.

The majority of the largest ballistic missiles in the nation use liquid fuel, necessitating a lengthy propellant loading process at the launch site.

Long considered a top priority for the nation, developing a solid-fuel ICBM could make its nuclear missiles more evasive to detection and destruction in a conflict.

How soon the alleged new missile might undergo testing is unknown. At the parades, North Korea has occasionally put on display mockups.

Source: Reuters