North Korea’s notorious Oct. 10 military parade is quickly approaching. And it really matters.

Beyond the birthdays of the nation’s late leaders, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, and alongside the September founding of the state, Oct. 10 is the preeminent political anniversary, and its military parades have emerged in recent years as a vehicle for calculated messaging to the international audience. 

The prominence of the anniversary is perfectly rational: The Workers’ Party of Korea is portrayed as the country’s unifying political body. It implements the will of the leader and (in theory