North Korea appears to be preparing for its largest military parade in over a year, which will likely feature heavy weapons such as missile launchers, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery.

Planet Labs imagery taken on March 6 shows new, pronounced tire marks inside the secured heavy weapons area at the Mirim military base in Pyongyang. There also appeared to be an uptick in activity on March 4, though hazy weather conditions make it difficult to determine its nature.  

An oval of tire marks and vehicle or personnel movements appeared in the same area prior to parades in Oct. 2020 and Jan. 2021, at which North Korea displayed the country’s largest nuclear-capable weapons.

By comparison, the secured vehicle area — built in summer 2020 and featuring garage space for dozens of missile launchers — appeared quiet before the Sept. 2021 “paramilitary parade” featuring no such heavy weapons. 

The last time activity inside Mirim’s secured heavy weapons area was captured by Planet Labs satellites was in Oct. 2021, on the same day that a military exhibition opened across town displaying intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and other large weapons.

This suggests the Mirim secured storage area may permanently house a number of North Korea’s biggest missiles and their launch vehicles (TELs), or that some of the ones shown off at parades and last year’s expo are non-functional mockups. 

The apparent restart of TEL driving practice in recent days comes after North Korean soldiers ramped up marching formation training at the Mirim base late last month and troop-carrying trucks appeared on site.

The above image comparison shows activity in front of the storage garages on Oct. 11, 2021 – the same day a major weapons expo opened across town | Images: Planet Labs PBH, edited by NK Pro

Satellite imagery captured some 32 troop formations in the replica of Kim Il Sung Square at the base on March 6, containing over 9,200 soldiers based on the size of the blocks during parades. A similar number has appeared there on multiple days since the last week of February. 

A likely date for the upcoming parade is April 15, the 110th birthday of the country’s founding leader Kim Il Sung. 

Edited by Arius Derr