While North Korea's ruling party has opened a landmark congress, preparations for a major military parade in Pyongyang appear to be in full swing, according to a South Korean lawmaker.

Rep. Yoo Yong-won of the main opposition People Power Party said Friday that satellite imagery taken by Vantor between February 9 and 17 captured shots of about 12-thousand troops gathered at the Mirim Parade Training Ground in Pyongyang and conducting massive rehearsals.

Yoo, who also serves on the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, explained that the images, analyzed by the Korea Defence and Security Forum(KODEF), apparently showed practice scenes of various sizes, including around 300 soldiers per battalion, marching in rows.

However, there were no signs of movement of large equipment near the training grounds as yet.

KODEF head Shin Jong-woo said preliminary exercises centered on troops are currently underway in the North, projecting that strategic weapons such as armored vehicles and mobile missile launchers will soon be brought in.

In addition, around Kim Il-sung Square, scenes of large crowds practicing flag and card choreography were identified in the analyzed images.

Yoo said the large-scale military parade that's expected to be held to mark the Ninth Congress of the North’s ruling Workers' Party, which opened on Friday, will likely surpass the scale of the previous congress.

The Eighth Congress held in 2021 was celebrated with a parade that mobilized 15-thousand troops and over 170 pieces of military equipment.