North Korea's first air show featured model planes and American-made helicopters

North Korea held its first air show Sunday, and only two of the planes were remote-controlled scale models.

Intriguingly, one of the models was a miniature American F-16, an odd choice for the isolated, communist nation whose government regularly declares its hatred for the United States. Likewise odd, another demonstration featured U.S.-made Hughes MD 500 military-use helicopters, which in theory should not be in North Korea thanks to U.S. sanctions.

The show also featured parachutists, passenger planes, and fireworks. Watch a portion of the demonstration below. Bonnie Kristian

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up