North Korea Marks 70 Years of Workers’ Party Rule

In Focus

Oct 13, 2015

27 Photos The Atlantic Monthly 

North Korea Marks 70 Years of Workers’ Party Rule

Alan Taylor

Over the weekend, reclusive North Korea held a massive military parade and numerous other mass performances to commemorate the 70th anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party, inviting foreign media to cover the event in Pyongyang. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who oversaw the proceedings alongside high-ranking party members, made a statement that his country was ready to fight any war waged by the United States.

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  A performer with torches reacts as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears on the stand during a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on October 10, 2015. #

  Damir Sagolj / Reuters

   

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  Dusk settles over Pyongyang, North Korea, on October 13, 2015, as the 105-story pyramid-shaped Ryugyong Hotel towers over residential apartments. The hotel has been under construction since 1987 and was intended to be a landmark and a symbol of progress and prosperity, but the economic difficulties that the country went through forced the project into repeated delays. Nearly 30 years later, it has become a major Pyongyang landmark, but has never been used as a hotel as it was intended. #

  Wong Maye-E / AP

   

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  North Korean soldiers participate in a mass military parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on October 10, 2015. #

  Ed Jones / AFP / Getty

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  Soldiers watch a joint concert between the Moranbong Band and the State Merited Chorus in Pyongyang, North Korea, on October 11, 2015, part of the 70th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party. #

  Wong Maye-E / AP

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  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks on the stands during the parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang on October 10, 2015. #

  Damir Sagolj / Reuters

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  A view of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency on October 12, 2015. #

  KCNA / Reuters

   

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  North Korean soldiers shout as they parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, on October 10, 2015. #

  Wong Maye-E / AP
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  Soldiers look toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other officials during a parade in Pyongyang on October 10, 2015. #

  Damir Sagolj / Reuters

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  North Korean soldiers in historic uniforms march during a parade on Kim Il Sung Square on October 10, 2015. #

  Wong Maye-E / AP

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  Participants hold flags as they pass through Kim Il Sung Square during a mass military parade on October 10, 2015. #

  Ed Jones / AFP / Getty
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  North Korean tanks pass through Kim Il Sung Square on October 10, 2015. #

  Ed Jones / AFP / Getty

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  A North Korean soldier stands before spectators during a mass military parade at Kim Il Sung Square on October 10, 2015. #

  Ed Jones / AFP / Getty

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  Soldiers shout slogans under a stand with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other officials during the parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea on October 10, 2015. #

  Damir Sagolj / Reuters

 

North Korean military participate in a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency on October 12, 2015. #

KCNA / Reuters

Soldiers shout slogans as they march past a stand with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other officials on October 10, 2015. #

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

North Korean veterans gather before the start of a parade in Pyongyang on October 10, 2015. #

Maye-E Wong / AP

 

 

Performers sing before a backdrop during an open-air dance and music performance on the north bank of the Taedong River in Pyongyang on October 11, 2015. #

Ed Jones / AFP / Getty

Singers from the Moranbong Band and musicians from the State Merited Chorus perform in Pyongyang on October 11, 2015. #

Wong Maye-E / AP

 

Dancers perform during a mass military parade at Kim Il Sung Square on October 10, 2015. #

Ed Jones / AFP / Getty

 

A North Korean soldier stands in the rain on Kim Il Sung Square following a mass military parade in Pyongyang on October 10, 2015. #

Ed Jones / AFP / Getty

North Korean officers shield themselves from the rain after the parade in Pyongyang on October 10, 2015. #

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

A volunteer holds burning torches during a torch-lighting performance at Kim Il Sung Square on October 10, 2015. #

Ed Jones / AFP / Getty

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