North Korea turns 70: Celebrations then and now
- 6 years ago
For North Korea, Foundation Day is one of its biggest national holidays... both in political terms and the size of the celebrations.
Our Kan Hyeong-woo looks at how the regime has marked the holiday in years gone by.
North Korea has put on military parades seven times to celebrate its foundation day on September 9,... and since Kim Jong-un became leader in 2012, there have been seven military parades that he has attended.
The communist state has typically put more emphasis on the events every 5 years. So from 2014 to last year, the celebrations were relatively quiet... without military parades or public rallies.
But for its 65th anniversary in 2013, North Korea celebrated with a massive parade, a public rally and the so-called Mass Games.
Kim Jong-un attended a parade on the North's founding day in 2013, when many expected to see new missiles and artillery. But no advanced weapons were revealed,... unlike how the regime had displayed its ICBMs in another parade earlier that year.
North Korea is known for using its parades to send a message to the world, so the absence of new strategic weapons in 2013 meant the display was not viewed by the outside world as a provocation.
In the same year, the so-called Mass Games took place for the last time before this year's revival. The Mass Games are famous for their enormous scale -- up to 100,000 people performing synchronized dances and gymnastics.
Tickets for the Games were sold through a state-run website -- the cheapest seats going for 113 U.S. dollars, and more than 900 dollars for the best seats.
It's still not known, though, exactly why North Korea stopped holding the Games and decided to bring them back this year.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News
Our Kan Hyeong-woo looks at how the regime has marked the holiday in years gone by.
North Korea has put on military parades seven times to celebrate its foundation day on September 9,... and since Kim Jong-un became leader in 2012, there have been seven military parades that he has attended.
The communist state has typically put more emphasis on the events every 5 years. So from 2014 to last year, the celebrations were relatively quiet... without military parades or public rallies.
But for its 65th anniversary in 2013, North Korea celebrated with a massive parade, a public rally and the so-called Mass Games.
Kim Jong-un attended a parade on the North's founding day in 2013, when many expected to see new missiles and artillery. But no advanced weapons were revealed,... unlike how the regime had displayed its ICBMs in another parade earlier that year.
North Korea is known for using its parades to send a message to the world, so the absence of new strategic weapons in 2013 meant the display was not viewed by the outside world as a provocation.
In the same year, the so-called Mass Games took place for the last time before this year's revival. The Mass Games are famous for their enormous scale -- up to 100,000 people performing synchronized dances and gymnastics.
Tickets for the Games were sold through a state-run website -- the cheapest seats going for 113 U.S. dollars, and more than 900 dollars for the best seats.
It's still not known, though, exactly why North Korea stopped holding the Games and decided to bring them back this year.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News