North Korea is once again flexing its military muscle, this time with a weapon it calls the most powerful it's ever produced.
According to Fox News, on Friday, October 10, 2025, Kim Jong Un unveiled a brand-new long-range intercontinental ballistic missile during a military parade celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang.
Dubbed the Hwasong-20, this ICBM has not yet been tested, but North Korea’s state media boasts it represents the "most powerful nuclear strategic weapons system” to date in the rogue regime’s arsenal.
Foreign Leaders Watch Carefully Choreographed Display
The spectacle wasn’t only for domestic consumption — seated prominently were several key foreign figures: Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, and Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam. It wasn't just about fireworks and music — this parade served as a signal to the West that the Pyongyang-Moscow-Beijing triangle is getting cozier, and fast.
Independent journalists were unsurprisingly barred from attending, leaving the world’s knowledge of the Hwasong-20 reliant solely on official images and claims from the regime’s Korean Central News Agency.
Russia Touts North Korean Support In Ukraine
Kim Jong Un held bilateral talks with Medvedev following the parade, where the Russian official praised the “sacrifice” of North Korean soldiers reportedly fighting alongside Russia in Ukraine — yet another sign of Kim’s desire to embed North Korea further into global geopolitical showdowns.
In his discussions, Kim expressed a shared intent to strengthen ties with Moscow, pushing for deeper coordination on what he described as mutual objectives with Russia. This isn’t diplomacy in the traditional sense — it’s posturing with military hardware and battlefield alliances, conveniently timed to coincide with high-profile international visits.
Vietnam Strengthens Ties; U.S. Left On Sidelines
Just one day earlier, Kim also met with Vietnamese Communist Party chief To Lam, a move likely orchestrated to signal broader international connections beyond the more obvious partners in Beijing and Moscow. The timing and sequencing of these visits seemed designed to project unity among authoritarian regimes, while drawing a hard line against Western influence and pressure. There’s a message here: no matter how tough the sanctions, North Korea is not only surviving — it’s building coalitions.
Kim Yo Jong Denounces U.S. Diplomacy
If there was any doubt about the regime’s stance toward Washington, Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong delivered the final word earlier this summer. She warned the U.S. against attempts to restart denuclearization talks, describing such efforts as “nothing but a mockery.”
In fact, she framed the disinterest with blunt force: “If the U.S. fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK-U.S. meeting will remain as a ‘hope’ of the U.S. side.” That’s diplomatic shorthand for “don’t call us; we won’t be calling you either.” Of course, in the Biden administration’s world of rainbow flags in embassies and preferred pronouns at press conferences, hard-nosed realism about growing authoritarian links tends to take a back seat.
Pyongyang’s Parade of Missiles and Message of Defiance
The parade wasn’t limited to the Hwasong-20; it was a display of Pyongyang’s full menu of missile capabilities, including cruise missiles, supersonic tech, and shorter-range ballistic gear. “The military must continue to evolve into an invincible force that eliminates all threats,” declared Kim Jong Un as tanks, launchers, and soldiers marched past the grandstand in rehearsed symmetry.
Behind the bravado is a chilling truth: North Korea continues to invest heavily in weapons development while refusing to engage on peaceful terms, making clear it's not interested in playing by international rules.
Isolation and Alliances: North Korea Plays Its Hand
One may disagree with North Korea’s ideology, but there’s no denying they’ve outmaneuvered the West on the geopolitical chessboard more than once. This parade, cloaked in missile smoke and political theater, was just their latest move.
By locking arms with Russia and China — both nuclear powers with global influence — Pyongyang is placing bets that collective defiance will ease the impact of sanctions and isolation. The U.S., meanwhile, watches from the sidelines, clutching strongly worded statements while realpolitik happens elsewhere — missile parades and military alliances included.
