Kim Jong Un Shows Off Record Nuclear Missile Arsenal: Capable of Overwhelming US Defence Systems, Says Expert

Kim Jong Un showcased his country's missile production muscle during a nighttime parade on Thursday.

What Happened: Nuclear-armed North Korea displayed its largest-ever number of intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, than ever before, the state media reported.

Kim's isolated nation held one of the most anticipated nighttime military parades in the capital Pyongyang on Wednesday to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of its military.

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The parade was attended by Kim himself, along with this daughter Kim Ju Ae — who, experts believe, may play a possible future leadership role in the country.

The state-owned media KCNA said the parade featured tactical nuclear units and the ICBMs showed Pyongyang’s “greatest” nuclear strike capability. The photos released by the state media showed as many as 11 Hwasong-17s — North Korea’s largest ICBMs that are suspected of having the range to strike anywhere in the world with a nuclear warhead.

“This is cumulatively more ICBM launchers than we’ve ever seen before at a North Korean parade,” Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said.

According to Panda, such ICBMs equipped with multiple warheads could be enough to saturate existing U.S. missile defense systems.

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