On 25th February, the North Korean supreme ruler, Kim Jong Un, vowed to develop a nuclear weapons programme as he led a nighttime military parade in Pyongyang, where he was surrounded by his teenage daughter at the end of a huge party ruling congress.

State media reported that about 14,000 soldiers marched through the capital, Pyongyang, in Kim Il Sung Square.

Fighter jets were flying as soldiers goose-stepped under floodlights.

Kim had to stand next to his daughter, who was widely thought to be named Ju Ae.

Although South Koreans are speculating that she is being groomed as a successor, no new official titles were declared as the once-in-five-year congress of the Workers Party came to an end.

Kim, in his concluding remarks, renewed intentions of increasing North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.

He referred to it as the determination of the party to enhance national nuclear power and magnify the number of weapons and the capability to use them.

But in contrast to the past parades, there was no heavy military equipment.

CNN had no tanks, intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic glide vehicles or transporter-erector-launchers.

Such events are frequently used by North Korea to demonstrate the most sophisticated weapons, and the state propaganda of recent years has been greatly devoted to military systems.

Only a week ago, state TV broadcast a video of Kim seemingly driving the wheel of a 600mm multiple rocket launcher that is said to be nuclear-capable, with columns of launch rockets in the background.

The country had held a massive parade four months ago, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the ruling party, which presented what they described as the most powerful ICBM and other strategic systems.

The leadership changes also came as a result of the Ninth Workers Party congress. Kim Yo Jong is the sister of Kim and has served as a deputy director of one of the departments of the party over the years, which strengthens her influence in the inner circle.

A number of party and military positions were reorganised at the senior level, and Kim was reelected unanimously again as the general secretary on a new five-year term.

The watered-down display, observers say, can be because of practical and political calculations. The military parades are also very expensive and are sometimes employed to showcase new gear.

It may be possible to reduce the impact of the weapons by repeating them months after a significant anniversary event.

Meanwhile, Pyongyang might be indicating discipline, but reserving its strategic advantage. 

Together with his nuclear commitment, Kim reiterated schemes to build more powerful ICBMs, submarine launch, drone and artificial intelligence technologies.

He also left conditional space to negotiations with Washington, indicating that possibilities of improved relations would all depend on the attitude of the US, a long-running phrase of Pyongyang that refers to the nuclear acknowledgement and the abandonment of a hostile policy.

The events precede the visit of US President Donald Trump to China between March 31 and April 2, a visit that may have an impact on the diplomacy in the region.

The analysts think that such a visit may make Trump reopen the door to renewed engagement between Trump and Kim, either directly or mediated by China.

It is important to note that Trump did not mention North Korea in his recent State of the Union address, since he has often used the country in his earlier term, especially during his summits with Kim.

Trump also used the speech to award the former fighter pilot Royce Williams, a 100-year-old veteran of the Korean War, the Medal of Honour, which was met with bipartisan applause.

The event brought out the shadowy history of the Korean War at a time when the contemporary tensions had not been resolved.

This has changed the strategic location of North Korea compared to the preceding period when the summit was in place, mostly because of its increased collaboration with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In June 2024, Kim and Putin signed an agreement on a comprehensive “strategic partnership” with a mutual defence provision, drawing the two nations closer.

State media has also featured Kim greeting returning North Korean soldiers who fought against Russia in Ukraine and comforting the families of those murdered.

He granted new apartments to some of those families earlier this month.

That being said, the parade on Wednesday, which was rather about the troops than the weapons, was supposed to strengthen the unity, loyalty, and readiness at home and avoid the most provocative systems in sight.

Nevertheless, the threat to the opponents was obvious. According to Kim, state media, any infringement of the sovereignty of the nation would lead to retaliatory attacks with immediate effect.

The comments were made when the United States and South Korea said that their joint military exercises may be scaled down, but will restart in the next month.