North Korea is taking steps to organize a training exercise for a military parade to be held on Oct. 10, Daily NK has learned.
Oct. 10 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s communist party, the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK).
On July 11, the country’s General Staff Department (GSD) ordered the military to organize temporary teams to handle the “food, clothing and shelter” of soldiers participating in the training exercise, a Daily NK military source said yesterday.
Typically, these temporary teams are organized a week before a training exercise begins and are tasked with handling accommodations, food distribution, cleaning and other duties related to the drills.
The GSD order also called on military units in Pyongyang to provide teams to handle food distribution during the exercise, while military hospitals and clinics were directed to select military doctors and nurses to provide medical care for participating soldiers.
The source told Daily NK that around 200 female soldiers from various units under the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces (MPAF) were recruited to help with food distribution during the drills.
“The female soldiers, along with those selected to join the temporary teams, arrived at the April 25 Hotel in Pyongyang’s Sadong District on July 13,” he reported.
“The authorities are tightly restricting travel among soldiers due to the COVID-19 situation, and entry into Pyongyang is closed,” the source noted, adding, “Participants in the military parade drills are expected to gather at the April 25 Hotel by July 20.”
Daily NK understands that up to 23,000 soldiers will take part in the drills.
Daily NK reported in May that the training exercise for the October military parade had been delayed from May until July.
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