North Korea Holds Massive Military Parade on the Eve of the Winter Olympics
Members of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea delegation band perform during their welcome ceremony ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the Olympic Village on Feb. 8, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea.
Dean Mouhtaropoulos—Getty Images
By Kim Tong-Hyung and Eric Talmadge / AP
1:38 AM EST

(SEOUL) — North Korea has held a military parade and rally on Kim Il Sung Square a day before South Korea holds the opening ceremony for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

More than 10,000 troops had trained for the parade in advance. Residents practiced in plazas around the North Korean capital with bouquets of plastic flowers to be used to spell out slogans during the parade.

A South Korean government official said tens of thousands of people participated or watched the parade Thursday morning in Pyongyang.

The official says it wasn’t immediately clear whether North Korea displayed strategic weapons such as intercontinental ballistic missiles during the parade. The official didn’t want to be named, citing office rules.

The North had said the parade would mark the 70th anniversary of its military founding.