Military parade in Pyongyang: Beijing keeps building up North Korea as a manufacturing and military base to pressure the U.S. and its allies

On October 10, 2025, another military parade took place in Pyongyang, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea. As part of it, the DPRK showcased its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile, Hwasong-20—a weapon with a range of 15,000 km, developed with assistance from the Russian Federation.

In addition, it displayed an updated tactical ballistic missile Hwasong-11Ma, new multiple launch rocket systems, and strike drones that visually resemble military developments from the US and Israel. Regarding personnel, the central focus of the parade was on North Korean participants in the war with Ukraine.

Notably, for the first time since 2009, Chinese State Council Premier Li Qiang—the formally second-highest official after Xi Jinping—arrived in Pyongyang; the last time a Chinese official of this level attended a North Korean military parade was in 1988.