North Korea appears to have expanded preparations for the military parade likely to be held on Thursday to celebrate the foundation of the Korean People’s Army.

A North Korea expert, Joseph Bermudez, made the assessment in a contribution to the U.S.-based North Korea monitoring Web site, 38 North, on Monday.

The report said that satellite pictures of North Korea’s Mirim Parade Training Facility show that as of Monday, there are roughly 13-thousand troops practicing on the training grounds. That’s up from 12-thousand on January 28th. 

However, the report added that “only a small group of artillery pieces and armored fighting vehicles are visible at the facility,” which is “not unusual as some of these are likely stored at nearby military facilities.”

The report said that “there are still no signs of ballistic missile or unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) launchers on the parade ground or at the heavy equipment storage area.”