Preparations for North Korea’s Ninth Party Congress have ramped up at the Pyongyang venue typically used for the event, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, while troop marching and aircraft flyover training for a military parade linked to the congress appear to be in the final stages.

State media has yet to announce a starting date for the congress, one of the most highly anticipated political events on the North Korean calendar. Leader Kim Jong Un is expected to make new announcements on foreign policy and nuclear weapons development at the event.

Planet Labs high-resolution imagery taken on Tuesday shows large red materials in front of the April 25 House of Culture, possibly party flag banners intended for hanging on the building’s facade. The rear facade of the building has already been covered as well.

These were hung on the venue less than five days before the start of the Jan. 2021 congress, suggesting that the event could start within the next week if the preparation schedule is similar this time. The building was also used for the May 2016 congress.

NK Pro analysis has also found that air force training, likely for military parade flyovers, started at Sunchon Airbase north of the capital between Jan. 11 and 17. 

Similar training began at Sunchon around a month prior to the Oct. 2025 and July 2023 parades, and at Pyongyang airport a little less than a month before the Feb. 2023 parade. (The flyovers appeared to be canceled at last October’s event due to rain.)

This points to a parade in mid-February if the training schedule is similar this year, likely at Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang. A military parade took place two days after the conclusion of an eight-day-long Party Congress in Jan. 2021.

Civilians appeared to be training for congress and parade-related events around Pyongyang as well, imagery shows. 

Thousands filled Kim Il Sung Square in high-resolution Planet Labs images taken on Jan. 28 and Feb. 3, likely to practice choreography for displaying images and slogans in pom-poms. 

Other crowds of people appeared to be practicing formations in front of the East Pyongyang Grand Theater and Youth Park Open-air Theater, as they have in past years before military parades.

A large 50 by 25-meter red Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) flag also appeared under the outer awning of May Day Stadium on Feb. 3, about the size of flags carried above the heads of civilians down the main street of Kim Il Sung Square during propaganda float parades.

But while past training schedules point to an imminent congress and military parade, other typical signs still appear missing.

For example, an orchestra tent has not yet been set up in the center of Kim Il Sung Square, after typically appearing multiple weeks ahead of a parade in the past.

Fireworks strips haven’t been installed across the Taedong River between the square and Juche Tower either, after appearing between one and two weeks before major military parades since April 2022 — even in Feb. 2023 despite the frozen river.

A shelter for large combat drones also has not been installed near the Arch of Triumph or other large parking lots on the parade route, suggesting they may once again not feature in the weapons procession after appearing in July 2023 but not Oct. 2025.

Meanwhile, at least 12,500 soldiers continued daily goose-stepping practices at the Mirim military parade training base in southeast Pyongyang in recent weeks, after beginning the training in early November.

A medium-resolution Planet Labs image taken on Jan. 30 showed at least 44 block formations of soldiers in rows filling the replica of Kim Il Sung Square at the base. This typically appears at the beginning of parades, before each row moves down to start marching through the main street past Kim Jong Un’s viewing stand. 

The number of block formations and troop transport trucks parked at the base points to a parade similar in scale to the one held after the Eighth Party Congress in Jan. 2021, which also featured a procession of nuclear missiles and other weapons after the troop marching. But it is likely to feature fewer troops and weapons systems than parades held on major holidays like the most recent one last October.

Edited by Bryan Betts

UPDATE on Feb. 11 at 7:32 a.m. KST:  Signs of installing fireworks barges and an orchestra tent subsequently appeared between Feb. 3 and 6