Hundreds of troop transport trucks have arrived at a parade training base in the North Korean capital, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, indicating the country may have started preparations to hold another military parade for the upcoming Ninth Party Congress.

Pyongyang is expected to review the last five years of weapons development goals at the congress and announce a new set of arms production plans, and another parade could be an opportunity to expand upon the limited lineup of new nuclear missiles and delivery systems at the most recent military parade last month.

The troop trucks started to appear in empty lots around the replica Kim Il Sung Square at the Mirim military parade training base in southeast Pyongyang between Nov. 4 and 5, Planet Labs imagery reveals, with more showing up each day until hundreds appeared in the latest image taken on Nov. 11.

In recent years, the arrival of trucks at the base has only occurred in the weeks and months before a military parade, making it a strong indicator of active event preparation. For example, they started appearing at Mirim in June this year to facilitate over three months of practices for a parade held on Oct. 10.

The vehicles usually stay there as tens of thousands of soldiers practice goose-stepping in formations each day, sleeping at two lodgings on site both called the April 25 Hotel.

After the trucks took participating troops to the parade last month, imagery shows that the vehicles returned to the lots at Mirim until disappearing between Oct. 22 and 23. It is typical for the trucks to remain there for weeks after parades, possibly related to post-event reviewing and training.

But the fact that trucks reappeared at the base a couple weeks after leaving suggests that their return was for a new event, rather than just standard post-parade movements.

Despite the strong correlation between the trucks and real parade preparations, it remains possible that they have been moved to Mirim this time for other reasons, and DPRK state media has not otherwise announced another upcoming parade.

A likely next occasion for a military parade is the Ninth Party Congress, after North Korea held one to celebrate the Eighth Party Congress in Jan. 2021. That parade also came on the heels of a military parade held just months earlier on Oct. 10, 2020.

North Korean state media frequently mentions the Ninth Party Congress but has yet to announce its start date. The Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) said it will hold an end-of-year plenum in mid-December, suggesting it could repeat the previous congress schedule and hold the next one in January.

The Eighth Congress lasted eight days, from Jan. 5 to 12, after which a military parade took place on Jan. 14. It was markedly smaller in scale than the Oct. 2020 event, but still featured more weapons than the most recent parade last month.

The troop trucks didn’t arrive at Mirim until late December, just a few weeks before the Eighth Party Congress, so their earlier arrival this time may signal a larger-scale or at least better-practiced event than five years ago.

Edited by Bryan Betts