Construction workers have been busy in recent days completing reinforcements to the Okryu Bridge in downtown Pyongyang, a source in the North Korean capital told NK Pro this week.

Work on the bridge began last month, with new paving over each of the bridge’s ten support legs on its eastbound lane, suggesting the preparations were related to an expected military parade in October.

The bridge is known to be used to transport heavy military equipment such as tanks and ballistic missiles from a parade training ground over the Taedong River to the parade spot at Kim Il Sung Square.

A photo of the ongoing construction on the westbound lane, obtained by NK Pro and taken in the last week (seen above), shows what appears to be reinforced concrete paving work, with steel bars exposed and cement trucks on hand.

The source said multiple propaganda troupes were stationed along the bridge playing music for the construction workers, while the bridge was also seen lined with red flags and propaganda slogans. 

In the photo, the lighter-colored concrete seen in satellite imagery covering the ten supports appears in the immediate foreground, on the eastbound lane completed weeks ago.

Satellite imagery and the ground-level photo also show that the westbound lane work is being carried out on the same patches of bridge over the supports.

North Korean state television on Monday appeared to confirm there is sensitivity over the Okryu Bridge construction, blurring the eastbound lane in footage taken in May, in a program otherwise focused on lauding workers’ roadwork skills. 

The reinforcement work is being done, the source said, in preparation for a military parade expected to be held on October 10 this year for the ruling party’s 75th founding anniversary.

NK Pro earlier this month reported on major construction at the Mirim military parade training compound in southeast Pyongyang, including a new road which appears to have been built to facilitate a smoother route for military equipment from new storage structures to the main road linking to the Okryu Bridge and on to where the parade is typically held. 

The latest Planet Labs satellite imagery shows the construction at Mirim was likely largely completed between June 9 and 13, with the new roads appearing fully paved and linked and with the removal in that period of temporary structures nearby used by builders. Permanent roofing does not yet appear to have been installed on the structures.

Meanwhile at Kim Il Sung Square where the upcoming parade will likely take place, the source in Pyongyang said major construction, first reported by NK Pro last month, is still ongoing on the ground and grandstands there.

Edited by Oliver Hotham