Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon says North Korea’s upcoming military parade was not suddenly scheduled with the PyeongChang Olympics in mind, but to satisfy an internal demand within the North. 

South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies have detected signs that North Korea is preparing a massive military parade for February eighth to mark the 70th founding anniversary of its military. This is one day before the opening of the PyeongChang Olympics. 

In a phone interview with the Seoul-based Yonhap news agency on Saturday, the minister said the military parade is irrelevant to the Winter Games and its timing is just a coincidence.

Minister Cho said that North Korea tends to prepare more aggressively for anniversaries with numbers that end in a five or zero.

He said it's reasonable to view the military parade as a separate event even though it may take place just before the opening of the Olympics, and advised not to connect the two and ascribe meaning.

The minister added that Seoul has not had a chance to talk with Pyongyang over the military parade.