'Not a single person with virus': North Korea conducts pre-dawn military parade

South Korea, US intelligence closely tracking the event

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wished coronavirus sufferers around the world good health at a military parade on Saturday that defied the pandemic.

"I wish good health to all the people around the world who are fighting the ills of the evil virus," Kim -- whose summit counterpart US President Donald Trump was recently hospitalised with the virus -- said in a speech broadcast on state media.

Nuclear-armed North Korea will continue to bolster its military, leader Kim Jong Un told a military parade Saturday with talks with the US at a standstill.

"We will continue to strengthen our military for self-defence and deterrence," Kim said in a speech broadcast on state television.

(Photograph:AFP)

Night-time military display

State broadcaster KCTV showed squadron after squadron of armed soldiers and armoured vehicles lined up in the streets of Pyongyang ready to march through Kim Il Sung square in a night-time display.

None of the participants or the audience lined up in the stands were wearing masks, but there were far fewer citizens than usual on the square itself.

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Defying coronavirus threat

Nuclear-armed North Korea held a giant military parade Saturday, television images showed, with thousands of maskless troops defying the coronavirus threat.

The widely anticipated display is part of commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the coutry's Workers' Party.

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'The biggest glory to our great party'

The programme opened with an image of a propaganda poster for the commemorations, showing three North Koreans holding up its symbols of a hammer, sickle and brush, and the slogan: "The biggest glory to our great party."

North Korean military parades normally climax with whatever missiles Pyongyang wants to highlight and are keenly watched by observers for clues to its weapons development.

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75th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party

North Korean state television began a broadcast of a much-anticipated military parade Saturday, hours after it had taken place in Pyongyang to mark the 75th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party.

(Photograph:AFP)

'The biggest victory to our great party'

The programme opened with an image of a propaganda poster for the commemorations, showing three North Koreans holding up its symbols of a hammer, sickle and brush, and the slogan: "The biggest victory to our great party."

(Photograph:AFP)

North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il at Mansu hill

People leave after paying their respects before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il at Mansu hill, as the country marks the 75th founding anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea, in Pyongyang 

(Photograph:AFP)

New long-range ballistic missiles

The parade was widely expected and was being closely watched by analysts and officials in South Korea and the United States for signs of new long-range ballistic missiles, which North Korea has not displayed in a public parade since early 2018.

(Photograph:AFP)