April 20, 2024
News

No social distancing? North Korea holds massive parade despite COVID-19 pandemic

State media shows fireworks and drones soaring over Youth League congress parade

Thousands of North Koreans took part in a massive parade of dancers and torchlight bearers despite the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korean state media showed on Saturday. 

The parade, which marked the end of North Korea’s 10th Youth League congress last week, aired on the state-run Korean Central Television (KCTV) on May 1 and showed performers spelling out giant letters of party slogans and forming images of important state symbols like the sun, torch and Mount Paektu. At the three-day-long congress, North Korean leadership urged Youth League officials to root out unruly, “anti-socialist and non-socialist practices” among the country’s youth — from their haircuts to speech styles.

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