Hundreds of military trucks appeared at North Korea’s main parade training base this week, raising the possibility that soldiers will march in celebrations for the country’s Oct. 10 party foundation holiday, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery.

Elsewhere, there were still no signs of preparations for an event to launch or otherwise celebrate a new warship that state media previously said would be completed by Saturday.

It is also possible that the DPRK military could hold an event at its main drone airbase on the holiday, following construction of large grandstands near the runway in recent months and new efforts to clean up and repave the area in the last week.

A large-scale military parade took place on Oct. 10 last year to mark the 80th anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK). The country usually celebrates major holidays with less pomp on anniversaries not ending in five or zero.

MILITARY PARADE

Around 400 troop transport trucks arrived at the Mirim base in southeast Pyongyang between Oct. 2 and 6 and remained there as of Oct. 9, Planet Labs, Sentinel-2 and Maxar satellite imagery shows.

Trucks typically arrive there weeks to months in advance of a military parade so that soldiers can practice goose-stepping in perfect formations.

A similar number of trucks showed up less than two weeks before a paramilitary parade in Sept. 2021, making this the more likely type of parade if one is indeed held on Oct. 10. The arrival of the trucks may also be related to a later event in the coming months.

In the past, such a large number of trucks have not arrived and stayed at the base for multiple days for reasons unrelated to military parade preparations, according to NK Pro analysis of the last nine years of Planet Labs imagery, though the parades have varied in size and scope. 

Around 150 trucks last appeared at Mirim about a month before a small parade in July, which only involved troops marching and no display of missiles and weapons. That parade also took place in front of the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium, not Kim Il Sung Square where larger military and paramilitary parades typically take place.

A high-resolution Planet Labs image taken early on Oct. 9, a day before the holiday, showed red flags hanging on buildings in Kim Il Sung Square, but no other large decorations that usually come with an event like a military parade. This suggests a youth “mass dance” or ordinary celebratory event with fireworks could take place there for the holiday.

A PROMISED WARSHIP

State media reported in July 2025 that the Nampho Shipyard “pledged to build another new-type destroyer by October 10, 2026” at an event marking the start of construction on the country’s third Choe Hyon-class 5,000-ton warship.

Mentioning one of the most important North Korean holidays suggested the shipyard was promising to have the ship ready for a public event on that day.

The report included video of workers starting to put together ship hull sections in an outdoor area, but the area was cleared a month later, and there have been no solid indications that work was able to continue inside an enclosed construction hall next to it.

As of the latest imagery taken on Friday, no new completed ship was visible and there were not yet signs of preparations for a launch ceremony at the shipyard or a nearby civilian cargo port.

The first destroyer produced by the shipyard, the No. 51 Choe Hyon, emerged from the enclosed construction hall a month before its launch ceremony in April 2025. Work also started on building a viewing platform for Kim Jong Un to use at the event location a week in advance, satellite imagery showed.

The ship remained docked at the Nampho cargo port on Friday despite authorities suggesting it had sailed away to a naval base in June.

Construction started again on a new ship in a different outdoor area of the shipyard in August.

DRONE EVENT PREP

Preparations for what appears to be some kind of large spectator event have been ongoing for months at Panghyon Airbase in North Phyongan Province, the country’s headquarters for large combat and reconnaissance drones and small “suicide drones.”

A pair of grandstands were built facing the runway earlier this year, while Planet Labs imagery shows efforts to pave the airbase’s aircraft apron and taxiways since early September. The roads were paved again in early October and an old hangar was reroofed.

These apparent clean-up efforts suggest some kind of demonstration may be imminent, and the Oct. 10 holiday would serve as a natural occasion for such an event.

It’s also possible that Kim Jong Un will use the holiday occasion to show off military developments in other ways, like publishing a report on munitions factory visits or a roundup of attending military exercises. 

NK Pro has detected signs of preparations for special forces and coastal artillery drills in recent weeks, and Planet Labs imagery suggests the finishing touches were put on an apparent new VIP building for watching satellite rocket launches at the start of this month.

Edited by David Choi