North Korea ‘preparing to hold military parade‘ to mark 110th birthday of its founder

dailystar.co.uk:

North Korea as they wait to see if the secretive country will hold a military parade to mark the birthday of its founder, Kim Il Sung.Such parades are not rare in the country, with paranoid dictator Kim Jong Un – Kim Il Sung’s grandson – often keen to show off his military capabilities, but there hasn’t been one for seven months.There were reports of jets and helicopters being heard flying low over the centre of the capital Pyongyang on Thursday night, and roads were apparently closed in parts of the capital, suggesting a spectacular event was getting under way.But soldiers appeared to be continuing their parade training at a military base in the city this morning, with NK News reporting that they didn’t march through the city last night after all.NK News says a parade could take place tonight instead.In recent years, North Korea has held its military parades at night before broadcasting an edited version on state TV a few hours later, reports The Japan Times.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.The waiting game comes as the current leader Kim has been ramping up tensions in the region once again.Last month he was snapped laughing and joking as his forces tested an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time since 2017, and reports have suggested the country is gearing up for its first test of a nuclear bomb in nearly half a decade.The United States has recently sent an aircraft carrier group to the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan for the first time since 2017.

It comes as the Americans seek to damp down Pyongyang’s provocations in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, amid fears that Kim will try to.