South Korea's Yonhap news agency says North Korea has staged a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice.

The report cites an informed source as saying that an anniversary ceremony began in a square in Pyongyang at around 8 p.m. on Thursday, followed by the parade.

It was the North's first such parade since February. All five military parades since October 2020 took place at night.

Prior to the latest parade, state-run Korean Central Television aired footage of the country's leader Kim Jong Un accompanying Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu on a visit to an arms exhibition.

The video showed what North Korea says is the solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile known as Hwasong-18, which was test-fired for the second time on July 12. It also showed what is believed to be a newly developed large drone.

North Korea is expected to announce the parade on Friday through state-run media.

Analysts will be closely watching to see if the parade featured new weapons while Chinese and Russian delegations were in attendance. Another focus is whether Kim used a speech to send a message to the United States and other countries.