North Korea Marks the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party Saturday Oct 10,2015

 

North Korea is holding what is expected to be one of its biggest celebrations ever, marking the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party

A cavalcade of armoured vehicles and ballistic missiles has started rumbling through the capital Pyongyang, accompanied by marching troops

Satellite images show the scale of planned North Korea parade

 

Images obtained on October 6 by the US-Korea Institute think tank at Johns Hopkins University show a sprawling training ground in Pyongyang featuring some 800 tents, 700 trucks and 200 armoured vehicles ahead of Saturday's spectacle

North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-un will preside over the ceremony, but no world leaders will be attending.
Heavy overnight rain delayed the start of proceedings

It is not known if Kim Jong-un - grandson of North Korea's first leader, Kim Il-sung - will speak at any of the day's events, although the anniversary is expected to send a signal of defiance, particularly to South Korea and the United States.
The North Korean leader began the day by paying respects to his late father and grandfather at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang

A stage has also been set up on a river for a late-night concert featuring the all-female Moranbong Band - North Korea's most popular musical group.
China, North Korea's closest ally, has sent a senior Communist Party official to the anniversary