North Korea showed a record number of ICBMs and a prototype of an even more powerful missile at the parade

In Pyongyang, on February 8, a parade was held in honor of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army. Chairman of the State Council of the DPRK Kim Jong-un attended the event with his wife Lee Sol-ju and daughter Kim Joo-e.

According to footage released by the TsNAK agency, the parade featured tactical missiles and long-range cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, a record number of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and, presumably, a prototype of a new solid-propellant ICBM that was larger than all other missiles, on a nine-axle chassis (the Russian Yars complex has an eight-axle chassis). In particular, according to the South Korean agency Yonhap, the arsenal presented to the public consisted of a convoy of Hwaseong-17 ICBMs, KN-23 missiles (similar to the Russian Iskander-M) capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, short-range ground-to-ground ballistic missiles ”, mobile installations (probably with cruise missiles), super-large 240-mm MLRS, 152-mm self-propelled artillery installations, as well as new tanks.

Reuters counted at least 11 Hwaseong-17 ICBMs at the North Korean parade. This amount may be enough to overcome the current US missile defense, says Ankit Panda, an American expert at the Carnegie Endowment. The fact that the United States may not have enough missile defense systems to repel an attack by North Korean ICBMs was also reported by Politico on February 9, counting from 10 to 12 Hwaseong-17 missiles in the parade footage. North Korea conducted a couple of successful launches of this type of ICBMs in 2022, thus breaking the de facto moratorium on their testing. According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the range of the Hwaseong-17 can exceed 15,000 km, which allows it to hit targets throughout the United States.