North Korea is set to hold a massive military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of its armed forces' foundation Thursday on the eve of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics' opening ceremony.

According to the South Korean military, about 50-thousand North Koreans including some 13-thousand troops, are practicing for the parade at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang. North Korean Air Force's AN-2 low-altitude infiltration aircraft and SU-25 fighters are also reportedly practicing for a celebratory air show.

Artillery and tanks that will likely be mobilized for the parade were seen at the Mirim airfield near the square, but the transport erector launcher(TEL) carrying an intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM) has reportedly not been detected yet. 

North Korea invited reporters from the U.S. and Japan to the parade last month, but recently decided to revoke the invitations. The North reportedly did not even invite Chinese officials to the parade. 

North Korea has recently designated February eighth as its armed forces' day, raising concerns that the event may dampen a reconciliatory mood created by its participation in the Olympics in the South.

North Korea set up the Korean People's Army(KPA) on February eighth, 1948, and celebrated the date as the founding anniversary until 1977. But the following year, the country switched the anniversary to April 25th, the date when the late founder, Kim Il-sung, created anti-Japanese guerrilla forces in 1932.