North Korea, according to state-run media, has successfully staged a military-style parade as part of its 73rd founding anniversary -- the first since Joe Biden became the president of the United States.
The spectacle was labeled as a show of paramilitary and public security forces by the reclusive state popular for always flexing its military might.
But the celebration was a bit different this time -- there was no display of the country's latest weaponry that is supposed to be used to strike the U.S. and its allies.
Instead, for the parade that was held at midnight at Pyongyang, a sea of people wearing bright orange hazmat suits and medical grade masks.
Kim Jong Un, the leader of the hermit nation, attended the event as North Korea's orange-clad public security forces of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards (WPRG) started marching in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square at midnight Wednesday, the official KCNA news agency reported.
This is in complete contrast with what happened in October last year when North Korea showcased a predawn military parade that was highlighted by the display of previously unseen intercontinental ballistic missiles. This was followed by a night-time military parade that was held last January.
Although North Korea has not confirmed any COVID-19 cases, the wearing of orange biohazard suits during the conduct of the paramilitary parade proved that the country, just like many others, treats the health crisis as a matter of national survival.
The KNCA news agency said that the Ministry of Public Health was zealous in showing the entire world the advantages of implementing a socialist system while strongly protecting the security of the country as well as its people from the global health crisis.
The perceived absence of strategic weapons and the focus on public security forces showed that North Korea's leader is serious about domestic issues like COVID-19 and the economy, Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, noted.
As for the issue of North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile arsenals, talks that are aimed for the country to give those up have encountered setbacks in recent years, although Biden said his administration will look into diplomacy to finally achieve North Korean denuclearization.
