North Korea celebrated the regime's 70th anniversary on Sunday.... and held a military parade to mark the occasion.
Despite the massive scale of the event, the North opted for a more low-key approach than usual.
Oh Jung-hee has more.
North Korea held a massive military parade on Sunday, celebrating the regime's 70th founding anniversary,... but what's grabbing everyone's attention is the absence of three things you might normally expect: an address from Kim Jong-un, intercontinental ballistic missiles rolling through the streets,... and the event being broadcast live.
The regime's ceremonial leader Kim Yong-nam gave an address rather than Kim Jong-un.
The message highlighted that North Korea's national power and strategic status has risen to the highest level... and stressed the regime's focus on its five-year economic development plan and improving the people's livelihoods.
It added North Korea will continue efforts to improve inter-Korean relations and bring permanent peace and stability to the Korean Peninsula.
There was no direct mention of the United States... nor the regime's reference of itself as a strong nuclear state.
At a previous military parade in February, Kim Jong-un himself gave an address... and Pyongyang showcased some of its key missiles, including the intermediate-range Hwasong-12, and its intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15.
The regime also did not broadcast the military parade live.
The recorded and edited footage was instead aired on Monday.
Experts say that,... with the third summit between Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in coming up next week and some positive momentum on North Korea-U.S. denuclearization talks,... the regime decided to take a low-key approach... and celebrate the anniversary with a softer tone than previous years.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.