Workers put the final touches to Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square on Saturday as North Korea prepared for what promises to be its biggest celebration in years – the 70th anniversary of its official birth as a nation. Although North Korea stages military parades almost every year, and held one just before the Olympics began in South Korea in February this year, Sunday’s parade comes at a particularly sensitive time. Washington wants Kim to commit to denuclearisation first, but Pyongyang wants its security guaranteed and a peace agreement formally ending the Korean War. This year’s celebrations also mark the revival of North Korea’s mass games after a five-year hiatus. The mass games involve tens of thousands of people holding up placards or dancing in precise unison and are intended to be a display of national unity.

Source: Irish Independent September 08, 2018 18:11 UTC