North Korean soldiers and civilians have been training for months in freezing winter conditions for a military parade widely expected to celebrate the official 75th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) on Wednesday.

Preparations visible in satellite imagery and in photos and videos obtained by NK Pro point to a nighttime parade celebrating the Feb. 8 holiday that will be large in scale and feature tens of thousands of participants, including over 13,000 marching soldiers. The country’s largest missiles are also likely to roll through central Pyongyang during the event.

These could include weapons Kim promised to develop at the landmark Jan. 2021 party congress, such as new and untested solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), new submarine-launched missiles (SLBM), new surveillance and combat drones, new tanks or trucks and even new small arms and uniforms.

It will also feature redesigned military symbols and emblems that first appeared at a Central Military Commission meeting held Monday, while state media coverage should reveal changes in the organization of KPA units and branches as well as corps command unit leadership.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un could invite his daughter to attend a parade for the first time, and it would be typical for him to make a speech with important new details about his military development plans and messages for the U.S. and South Korea.

The North’s last four military parades have all taken place at night in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square. But they were held at different times, and DPRK state media has been inconsistent about when it releases details such as the text of Kim’s speeches and photos and videos of featured weapons. 

No foreign media were invited from abroad and foreign news bureaus in Pyongyang are not expected to be allowed to cover the event separately, meaning North Korean authorities will have full control over when and how to reveal details about the event to the world.

There are two main scenarios for when to expect the parade to take place and for state media to release its reports via print media or state TV:

• The parade starts late Tuesday and runs past midnight (Tuesday morning U.S. time, Tuesday afternoon Europe time). State media coverage comes out late Wednesday morning or later in the evening (late Tuesday night or overnight U.S. time, overnight or early Wednesday morning Europe time)
• The parade starts Wednesday evening (overnight to early morning Wednesday U.S. time, midday Wednesday Europe time). State media coverage comes out Thursday morning or later in the day (Wednesday evening or overnight U.S. time, overnight or Thursday morning Europe time)  

The following chart details the varying event and coverage times of the past four nighttime parades:

Edited by Bryan Betts