North Korea appears to be preparing for its first mass games in five years, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, possibly to coincide with the Oct. 10 holiday celebrating the 80th anniversary of the ruling party.

Planet Labs imagery shows that workers started covering the field of May Day Stadium in central Pyongyang, the typical venue for the large-scale propaganda event, with white material between June 17 and 18 — activity which has only occurred prior to holding the mass games. DPRK state media has yet to confirm the plans.

The “mass games” is the unofficial name for what North Korea calls “grand mass gymnastics and artistic performances” (대집단체조), huge propaganda shows that successive Kim family dictators have put on over the decades to reinforce the official current and historical ideological narratives all citizens are required to uphold. 

The events typically involve over 100,000 people — from young children to adults — performing synchronized dances and movements, including a massive “human pixel” backdrop where kids flip large books of colored paper in unison to create images. 

The shows require months of rigorous rehearsals for everyone involved, which authorities treat as valuable opportunities to instill obedience and collectivist ideology.

Some ROK media outlets reported the field covering last month as proof of mass games preparations, citing Seoul’s unification ministry. The ministry also previously said in March that there were already “signs of preparations to hold a military parade and the grand mass gymnastics and artistic performance,” but without describing any evidence.

NK Pro refrained from reporting the discovery of activity at May Day Stadium in mid-June prior to the ministry’s public notice since it remained possible that the material on the field was related to preparations for a large anti-U.S. rally on the June 25 war holiday, like was held on the stadium floor last year. 

But such a rally did not end up taking place this year, and a Planet Labs image taken on July 9 just before noon showed that the material was still covering the field, NK Pro has found, offering more solid evidence that the activity is related to the mass games. The image marks the first clear view of North Korea’s capital after 16 cloud-covered days.

However, only the field has been covered and not the surrounding track — another prerequisite to the mass games. In the past, the expansion of the covering has typically occurred weeks after the initial work.

For example, ahead of the most recent mass games around the Oct. 10 holiday in 2020, the May Day stadium field was covered in white material starting in early July, before the track was completely covered as well and a stage and other equipment was set up by early September.

North Korea used to hold the mass games for months on end — requiring its wide range of participants to dedicate most of their time outside school and work to the shows — but leader Kim Jong Un changed the format to only conduct the event for a limited time in October 2020, possibly only on a single night. The same format could be planned for this year as well.

By comparison, the 2018 event ran from September through November, while the 2019 event started in early June and was held almost nightly through mid-October that year.

The reason for not holding the mass games since 2020 remains unclear. It could have been halted in 2021 and subsequent years due to fears of outbreaks of COVID-19, especially if the 2020 shows resulted in a wider spread of the disease. It also could have been related to food shortages and other economic problems documented in recent years since the events are likely very costly.

Kim inexplicably criticized the show’s “creators” after attending the first performance in 2019 for “their wrong spirit of creation and irresponsible work attitude, pointing to the contents and forms of works.” 

Though this reportedly didn’t result in a change of content that year and the shows were held again the next year, it’s possible that the DPRK leader put production on extended hold to prepare for changes that may be revealed this year.

Edited by Alannah Hill