Hundreds of transport trucks for soldiers have disappeared from North Korea’s main military parade training base following a small-scale parade late last month, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery.

Their disappearance suggests there are no plans for a large-scale parade in the next few months.

Imagery of the most recent training stint sheds light on the contrast between small- and large-scale parade preparations, which can help better predict when Pyongyang plans to hold bigger events to showcase nuclear missiles and other new weapons.

Planet Labs imagery shows that up to 150 trucks arrived at the Mirim base in southeast Pyongyang on June 23, after which soldiers appeared to conduct block formation marching practices until the July 27 Korean War “Victory Day” parade in front of the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium.

That parade involved only around 3,200 soldiers in 20 block formations. Each formation included 160 soldiers instead of the usual 288 at full-scale parades on major anniversaries in Kim Il Sung Square.

Imagery shows that the trucks disappeared from Mirim between Aug. 1 and 3 and were not seen from Aug. 4 to 6, suggesting the recent training had ended.

Unusual maintenance work also started in early June at a secured garage compound inside the Mirim complex that is used for housing missile launchers for parades. Together with the marching practices, the activities hinted at early preparations for a large-scale military parade sometime later this year, though this now appears less likely.

Going forward, the arrival of 100 to 200 trucks at Mirim raises the probability of a small event, rather than being the early stages of practice for a major parade in central Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square.

Similar small-scale parades took place at Pyongyang Indoor Stadium on the July 27 holiday in the previous two years as well, but patterns surrounding the training period were different than this year. 

Trucks appeared at Mirim in early July 2025 in the same spot and in similar numbers as this year, but instead of disappearing after the small parade, they stayed and multiplied to prepare for a full-scale parade in October. This made it difficult to determine in hindsight if their initial arrival was connected to the July event.

Troop transport trucks did not appear at Mirim in 2024. 

In addition to the seemingly standard number of around 150 trucks and 3,200 soldiers associated with small parades for the July 27 holiday and the 500 trucks and 10,000 soldiers usually seen during training for full-scale parades, North Korea has also held medium-sized “paramilitary” parades at Kim Il Sung Square.

Training for these parades has involved around 300 troop trucks and a small number of weapons vehicles. 

The most recent full-scale parade in February to celebrate the Ninth Party Congress was preceded by the expected large number of troops participating in marching practices, but the garage compound at Mirim was quiet and the parade did not feature a weapons procession.

Edited by David Choi