Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon says North Korea’s upcoming military parade was not suddenly scheduled with the PyeongChang Olympics in mind, but to satisfy an internal demand within the North. 

In a phone interview with local Yonhap news agency on Saturday, the minister also said the military parade is irrelevant to the Winter Games and the overlapping date is just a coincidence.

South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies have detected signs that North Korea is preparing a massive military parade for February eighth to mark the 70th founding anniversary of its military. 

This day is one day before the opening of the PyeongChang Olympics.

Minister Cho said that North Korea tends to prepare more aggressively for anniversaries with numbers that end in a five or zero.

He said it's reasonable to view the military parade as a separate event even though it may take place during the Olympics, and advised not to connect the two and ascribe meaning.

The minister added that Seoul has not had a chance to discuss the military parade with Pyongyang.