North Korea displays its missiles in a parade in front of high-ranking officials from Russia and China

(AFP) North Korea displayed what it defines as its "most powerful" intercontinental ballistic missile during a military parade attended by top officials from Russia and China, state media reported Saturday.

The event, held Friday in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party, came as North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has been bolstered by crucial support from Moscow after sending thousands of troops to fight in the war against Ukraine.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council and a key ally of President Vladimir Putin, attended the celebration alongside Chinese Premier Li Qiang and the Vietnam's top leader, To Lam.

The leaders were sitting close to Kim during the military parade, according to images released by North Korea's official KCNA news agency KCNA.

The show featured some of the secretive atomic-armed country's most advanced weapons, including its new Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile, which KCNA described as its "most powerful strategic nuclear weapons system."

Also on parade were long-range cruise missiles, drone launch vehicles and surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, the news agency added.

Images also showed thousands of people in colorful traditional costumes filling the streets of the North Korean capital during the evening event, as they waved national flags and cheered the parade.

North Korea's "invincible" army "has always bolstered our party's efforts to overcome difficulties and hasten the arrival of a bright future," Kim said in a speech.

He gave an apparent nod to North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces in Russia's military campaign against Ukraine.

"The heroic fighting spirit demonstrated and the victory achieved by our revolutionary armed forces on foreign battlefields ... brought out ideological and spiritual perfection," he said, according to KCNA.