North Korea Military Parade April 25th, 1997 (Full HD 60fps)
Channel: Weird NK videos archive
Date: 2020-06-17

Parade starts at 35:48


Some background according to refugees that trained for this parade: SEOUL, South Korea (AP) Past goose-steppers proud of place in North Korean parades By HYUNG-JIN KIM

"Kim Jungah, who eventually dropped out of the parade because of injuries, said her academy only selected female cadets who were 160-164 centimeters (5′2″- 5′3″) [...]  Kim said her colleagues in the 1997 parade practiced for one year; another ex-North Korean soldier said in an interview that he trained for two months before a 1998 parade. [...] The defectors said they trained about 6-10 hours per day and six days a week. Many of their colleagues fainted or were injured during practice and had to be replaced.

Kim said that when parade instructors weren’t satisfied they often hit her and her colleagues with tree branches and flimsy metal rods used to clean rifles. Kim said she and her colleagues were beaten on their feet, calves, arms, jaw, hips and even breasts. “We were hit a lot ... and they always carried those switches,” she said. “I didn’t know whether it was a human rights violation at the time. I saw (my parade training) as a source of pride, even after I came to South Korea” in 2009, she said. [...] Malnourished, she said she passed out during a practice in July 1996 because her training unit didn’t have enough food, often eating only rice and salt for each meal. Sim and another ex-North Korean soldier, who requested anonymity because of worries about the safety of his relatives in the North, said their teams were fed well.

Several weeks after quitting her training because of health problems, Kim said she suffered sciatic neuralgia that left her paralyzed below the waist for weeks. Kim said her North Korean doctor told her that her injury was likely caused by the goose-stepping. Other goose-steppers had slipped disks and blood in the urine, she said.

The third ex-North Korean soldier said he had a backache for one and a half months after the 1998 parade. Sim said his training was tough but he wasn’t injured.