New satellite photos of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang show what appear to be preparations for a massive parade to mark the 75th anniversary of the dictatorship’s ruling party.
The aerial photos, captured by Colorado-based satellite imagery company Maxar, show thousands of people gathered together in formation near Sung Square and rehearsing, the Associated Press reported. The anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which is led by Kim Jong Un, falls on Oct. 10.
The website 38 North, which is dedicated to analysis of the hermit nation, said that the phrase seen from above in the satellite images and spelled out by those rehearsing the parade means “heroic youth” in Korean.
Thousands of people were in formation in Pyongyang today, ostensibly to prepare for the upcoming celebrations of the 75th Anniversary of the WPK on Oct 10. “영웅청년” translates to “heroic youth.”
?: @Maxar pic.twitter.com/5lumSIkX20— 38 North (@38NorthNK) September 17, 2020
The parade preparations come the same week that North Korean state-run media reported that the country is ramping up its efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, despite North Korean officials asserting that it has had no confirmed cases of the virus. North’s Korean Central News Agency said that effort to prevent COVID-19 “is waged consistently without a moment’s indolence, slackness, and carelessness.”
Even as the world first began grappling with the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year, North Korea was still provoking the United States and its regional neighbors by test-firing short-range missiles off its coast. Satellite imagery indicates that the country may be preparing for a submarine-launched ballistic missile test.
