A unit of North Korea’s elite troops participate in a military parade in Pyongyang on Feb. 8, 2018, in this photo captured from footage released by the North’s state broadcaster.(Yonhap)
Here is an image that has supposedly gone viral on the Internet from the Korea Queer Culture Festival:
An ironic image ended up embodying this year’s Korea Queer Culture Festival (KQCF). Standing in front of a line of Christian protesters bearing a banner reading “Homosexuality is sin! Return to Jesus!” is a bearded white male in robes, clearly dressed as “Jesus,” holding a rainbow-colored sign reading “I’m cool with it.” The image went viral, making the front page of Reddit Tuesday morning.
“It’s been a wild ride these last few days. I thoroughly enjoy reading the comments everywhere though,” said Robert Evans, 27, the American seen in the picture.
He recalls the picture was taken right before the pride parade departed Seoul Square. The festivalgoers were corralled by riot police, protecting them from Christian protesters. The protesters were gathered in front of the Hwangudan gate right next to the gate leading to the street where the parade would start.
“There were thousands and thousands of people just outside the frame of this photo but I guess nobody wanted to get too close to the protesters,” Evans said. “I took the opportunity to fill that space and present my message. I was aware of the banner behind me but I did not craft my sign with the specific intent of standing in front of that banner.” [Korea Times]
No one does a military parade quite like the North Koreans:
Pukguksong-2 ballistic missiles on display in 2017 North Korean military parade. [The Diplomat]
North Korea’s latest military hardware, including what analysts said appeared to be three kinds of intercontinental ballistic missiles, rolled through the North’s capital on Saturday, as the country showed off its military might amid heightened tensions with the United States.
As the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, watched from a platform, long columns of goose-stepping soldiers, accompanied by a fleet of tanks, missiles and rocket tubes, marched through a large plaza in the capital, Pyongyang, that was named after Mr. Kim’s grandfather Kim Il-sung, the country’s founding president.
Saturday was the 105th anniversary of Kim Il-sung’s birth and the North’s most important holiday, called the Day of the Sun. The United States, China and other regional powers had feared that North Korea might mark the occasion by conducting its sixth nuclear test or by launching an intercontinental ballistic missile. The United States sent a naval strike group to the area in a show of force.
But no seismic tremor emanated on Saturday morning from the North’s nuclear test site, where recent satellite photographs have shown what appeared to be preparations for an underground detonation.
South Korean analysts said Mr. Kim seemed to have decided to celebrate his grandfather’s birthday not with a nuclear test or a missile launching, but with a military parade meant to demonstrate his missile capabilities to his American foes.
To military analysts scrutinizing North Korea’s broadcast of the parade, the most noteworthy element seemed to be three types of long-range ballistic missiles, one of them apparently new. [New York Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but remember that these new ICBMs have not been tested and could be mock ups for all we know. The signaling that the Kim regime appears to be doing is to show the US that they are developing solid fuel ICBMs. Missiles with solid fuel means they can be fired quicker due to not needing to be fueled. They did recently successfully test fire the Pukguksong-2 intermediate range missile which uses solid fuel which shows they are developing the capability.
Most significant was that the Kim regime did not conduct a nuclear test yet. It will be interesting to see if in the coming days if they will attempt to conduct one. If not this is an indication that the US show of force worked to stop their planned nuclear test.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) holds hands with Liu Yunshan, the Chinese Communist Party’s fifth-ranked leader, as they respond to the crowd during a large-scale military parade at Pyongyang’s Kim Il-sung Square on Oct. 10, 2015, to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, in this image captured from the North’s Korean Central TV Broadcasting Station. (Yonhap)
