Tears don't mean Kim Jong Un is softening. Just look at his military hardware

On October 10, Kim Jong Un -- North Korea's notorious dictator -- became one of the few world leaders to publicly shed tears while apologizing to his people for the hardships they've had to endure this year. Only in 2020, right? 

Kim delivered what amounted to a mea culpa on the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the Workers' Party of Korea, the communist party that has ruled North Korea since its inception.He thanked North Koreans for their "great perseverance" and putting their trust in the party. He lauded them for how they "bravely overcame severe hardships and trials" this year. And he was overcome by emotion when thanking members of the country's military for their help with both disaster recovery -- North Korea was hit by several major storms this summer -- and epidemic prevention. 

Then his regime showed off advanced military hardware, including what appears appears to be one of the biggest ballistic missiles on the planet. The whole affair, which was edited after the fact, proved to be a remarkably slick production, with fighter jets roaring through the night sky and goose-stepping soldiers marching in perfect unison.

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