North Korea will mark the foundation of its regular army on February 8, its state media said Tuesday -- which will be the day before the Winter Olympics open in the South.

Reports and officials say that Pyongyang could be preparing a military parade as a display of strength ahead of the sporting festival, which has triggered a rare rapprochement between the two halves of the divided peninsula.

In recent years Pyongyang has proclaimed April 25 as the establishment of its army, naming it as the day the country's founder Kim Il-Sung set up anti-Japanese guerrilla forces in 1932.

It will now mark the foundation on February 8, when Kim launched the Korean People's Army (KPA) regular armed forces in 1948, the ruling Workers' Party announced.

Until 1978 the anniversary was marked on the February date, and the switch back gives Pyongyang a formal justification if it decides to go ahead with a parade next month, which will be the 70th anniversary of the regular military's establishment.

Satellite photos have shown troops and military vehicles rehearsing at an airfield near Pyongyang for an event.

A South Korean government official told the Yonhap news agency that they were increasing in numbers.

"At Mirim airfield, 13,000 soldiers and some 200 vehicles were spotted preparing for the parade," the unidentified official was quoted as saying.

But Pyongyang is bitterly cold in February and the numbers are smaller than those involved in a giant spectacle last April to mark the 105th anniversary of Kim Il-Sung's birth, which showcased a range of weaponry including what appeared to be a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The government and other authorities will take "practical steps to significantly mark" the February 8 anniversary, which was "a historic day", said the ruling party's Political Bureau, according to the North's state news agency KCNA.

April 25 will continue to be marked as the founding anniversary of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, it added.

Under current leader Kim Jong-Un, Kim Il-Sung's grandson, Pyongyang last year rattled the international community with nuclear and missile tests.

But it has agreed to send athletes to the South's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, march with the South under one flag at the opening ceremony and form an inter-Korean women's ice hockey team.

Tweet

Troops, cameras, radiation: China preps for N. Korea crisis
Dandong, China (AFP) Jan 19, 2018
China has ramped up security along its border with North Korea, installing new surveillance cameras, deploying extra security forces and operating radiation detectors as it braces for a potential crisis. Bellicose rhetoric between Washington and Pyongyang has raised fears in China of a conflict that could send millions of North Korean refugees across the 1,420-kilometre (880-mile) border, an ... read more

Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only