North Korea appears to be celebrating the anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party quietly without a large-scale military parade, unlike the previous year.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency and the party's official newspaper Rodong Sinmun published several articles about the 76th anniversary of the foundation of the party on Sunday.

Most of the articles introduced leader Kim Jong-un's activities centered around the livelihood of the North Korean people, and congratulatory messages and gifts for the anniversary from the North's largest ally China.

However, there were no reports about a military parade or other large-scale party events. According to the South Korean military, there were no signs that Pyongyang was preparing for a military parade.

In October last year, North Korea held a massive night-time military parade to mark the party's 75th anniversary and showcased a new intercontinental ballistic missile and a submarine launched ballistic missile.