North Korea parades new submarine-launched missile

Nuclear-armed North Korea unveiled a new submarine-launched ballistic missile at a military parade in Pyongyang, state media reported on Friday (Jan 15), in a show of strength days before Joe Biden's inauguration as US president.

Iran Press/Asia: The parade came after the five-yearly congress of the ruling Workers' Party, at which leader Kim Jong Un decried the US as his country's "foremost principal enemy".

"The world's most powerful weapon, submarine-launch ballistic missile, entered the square one after another, powerfully demonstrating the might of the revolutionary armed forces," the official KCNA news agency said.

Pictures showed at least four of the missiles with black-and-white cones being driven past flag-waving crowds, and Ankit Panda of the Carnegie Endowment said it was a previously unseen weapon.

"New year, new Pukguksong," he tweeted, using the name for the North's submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).

Kim oversaw the display, which included rockets with a "powerful striking capability for thoroughly annihilating enemies in a preemptive way outside the territory", KCNA said - implying a range extending beyond the Korean peninsula.

Images showed the parade ending with what appeared to be a new solid-fuel short-range ballistic missile - which are more mobile and more quickly deployed than liquid-fuelled versions.

Analysts say the North is using the congress to send Washington's incoming administration a message of strength in an attempt to extract concessions.

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