By Geoffrey Cain
PRI’s The World
Apr 24, 2013
SEOUL, South Korea — April 25 is something of a holy day for the North Korean leadership.
It marks the founding of the guerrilla army in 1932 that they — often romantically — claim valiantly fought off Japanese colonials and saved the Korean race from slavery. (In reality, the army played a minor role.)
Every year, the military marks the anniversary with a lavish parade. But this year, some Korean press are reporting that there might not be major festivities tomorrow for reasons still unclear.
A test-fire is possible, following the reported movement of two short-range Scud missiles to the east coast. That’s near the area where, in early April, the North also placed two medium-range missiles.
The South Korean defense ministry now claims, on the other hand, that the North could test a mid-range Musudan missile as late as July.
In addition to April 25, they cite two other possible dates: April 30, when the US-South Korea joint Foal Eagle military exercises end, and July 27, the anniversary of the armistice that halted the Korean War of 1950 to 1953.
The article was originally published in PRI’s The World
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