North Koreans placed floral tributes at the foot of giant statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang on Tuesday as the country marked the founding anniversary of its armed forces.
A military expert says that some of North Korea's military weapons it has put on display are fake, as North Korea's Youth League vowed to use five million children "equipped with nuclear bombs" to "mercilessly wipe out" the USA.
Michael Pregent, a former US Army Intelligence Officer, told Fox News that some of the missiles held by soldiers during Pyongyang's April 15 military parade 'This was more about sending a message than being combat effective," he said.
North Korea shows off its military might during a parade. Photo/AP
Pregent, who is now an adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC, looked at several photos of North Korean soldiers from the April 15 parade to make his assessment.
Special operations "commandos" were seen to be carrying what appeared to be AK-47's with grenade-launching capabilities.
But Pregent said what many people believed to be grenade launchers are known as "helical" magazines. This is a piece of equipment that organises rounds in a spiral shape to maximise capacity. It is notorious for jamming.
He said these magazines have a high-failure rate, and he wonders whether any of the rifles were actually loaded, as ammunition manufacturing is a serious issue for the country.
Pregent also claims that the type of sunglasses being worn by the North Korean troops "looks like a flat-face frame, and that's not ballistic. That would wraparound and would also protect your eyes".
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo/AP
Pregent also added that the fingerless gloves worn by some of those soldiers are more for show. "Some of our guys do have them, but most guys go all the way with full gloves based on the heat of the barrel from a round, not to mention they're fire resistant if you need to pick up something," he told Fox News.
He also said that the oversized projectiles added to the end of some of those soldiers' rifles were "laughable."
"If you look, you can see the plastic is over the muzzle," Pregent said.
Despite this, Pregent said that some of the weapons still could be real, but the projectiles themselves would have to be fake "because Kim Jong Un doesn't want them to launch one at the viewing stand".
Hundreds of tanks were lined up along the eastern coastal town of Wonsan in a show of military strength celebrating 85 years since the North Korean army was created. Photo/AP
Pregent also told Fox News the silver-plated rifles held by some of the soldiers also seemed unrealistic.
"Saddam had gold plated handguns, and even he wouldn't give them to his troops, so these are most likely painted," Pregent said.
His claims come as the youth wing of Kim Jong-un's government has vowed to "annihilate all aggressors and provokers on the Earth".
North Korea's Youth League vowed to use five million children "equipped with nuclear bombs" to "mercilessly wipe out" the US.
A statement from the League says its members will "wipe out the enemies" with "invincible nuclear force".
The organisation also vows to "display fireworks of the final victory".
The Youth League dates back to 1946 when it was founded by Kim Il-Sung, North Korea's supreme leader and grandfather of present-day leader Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-un remains chairman of the Youth League and the organisation is tasked with encouraging children over 15 into production, construction and military service.
