North Korea plans a massive
military parade including missiles and other weaponry to mark major
anniversaries early this year after its leader's death, South Korean media
reports said Monday. 
File photo of a military
parade in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AFP/KCNA via KNS/File)
A large number of army, naval and air force troops have been practising for months at Mirim air base near the capital Pyongyang, Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unidentified Seoul official.
"The practice was under way even before the death of Kim Jong-Il," Yonhap quoted the official as saying. The leader died on December 17 and was succeeded by his youngest son Jong-Un in the country's second dynastic power transfer.
The parade will likely be staged to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of founding president Kim Il-Sung on April 15, or the anniversary of the foundation of the army on April 25, the official was quoted as saying.
Major weaponry including new tanks and armoured vehicles as well as short- and mid-range missiles have been deployed, the official said.
The event will likely be the largest military parade ever held in the country if all weaponry that has been deployed for practice sessions actually takes part, JoongAng Ilbo newspaper quoted an official as saying.
Seoul's defence ministry declined to confirm the reports.
JoongAng Ilbo said it was assumed the parade would be held to mark Kim Jong-Il's birthday on February 16, but Yonhap said it was likelier to go ahead in April.
Kim Jong-Il's birthday was never marked by a military parade while he was alive.
The impoverished but heavily-armed state with 1.2 million troops has regularly staged large parades featuring thousands of goose-stepping soldiers and major weaponry to mark major anniversaries.
Kim Jong-Il had declared 2012 as the year when the North would become a "powerful and prosperous nation" to mark the centenary of its founder's birth.
- AFP/cc
