North Korea apparently preparing for massive parade: Chinese experts

As international media speculate on a possible 70th anniversary military parade in North Korea on September 9, Chinese experts said on Tuesday that such a parade, if held, could be considerably larger than the previous parade in February.

Commercial satellite imagery of the Mirim Parade Training Ground in Pyongyang from August 12 shows “a high level of activity,” according to a report released by 38 North, a project of the USbased Stimson Center think tank.

“The military parade is very likely to take place, as the Day of the Foundation of the Republic is a significant holiday in North Korea and this year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the country,” Cui Zhiying, director of Tongji University’s Korean Peninsula Research Center in Shanghai, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The parade, if held, would be much larger than the one held in February to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army, as the establishment of the nation is of more significance than the founding of the army, Cui noted.

The parade will be larger in terms of people and weapons like tanks and artillery, Cui believed.

Satellite imagery from August 22 shows about 120 military vehicles in formation practicing on the facility’s roads including transporter erector launchers, unmanned aerial vehicle launchers, tanks, large artillery and other vehicles.

No launchers for intercontinental ballistic missiles have yet been observed, 38 North reported.

There are 12 groups of troops practicing formations on the roads and in a replica of Kim Ilsung Square and about 500 vehicles parked in the parking lot, the report said.

It is unlikely that the parade will feature Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missiles as Pyongyang and Washington are currently at a delicate impasse, Cui said.

In the February parade, North Korea showed off the Hwasong-15, which Pyongyang claimed was capable of striking the US mainland.