South Korean military authorities believe that North Korea will hold a nighttime military parade on Friday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

An official from the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters on Friday that North Korea is currently conducting rehearsals involving military equipment and missiles, adding that the parade is likely to take place Friday night and involve tens of thousands of participants.

Since the October 2020 parade marking the 75th anniversary of the party’s founding, North Korea has held all of its last seven military parades at night.

The official noted that light rain, forecast at around one millimeter per hour starting late Friday afternoon, is unlikely to disrupt the parade, though it could affect aerial assets.

Attention is also focused on whether North Korea will unveil its newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Hwasong-20, during the event. 

However, the missiles and other weapons intended for the parade are currently being kept covered.