The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Sunday held a grand military parade to celebrate the 65th birthday of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), Xinhua reported.
Top leader Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the WPK and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, attended the massive ceremony in central Pyongyang, which featured dozens of arrays of cadets, soldiers and armored vehicles.
Also present were Kim Jong Un, one of the two newly-elected vice chairmen of the WPK's Central Military Commission, Kim Yong Nan, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, and many other senior officials.
Beside Kim Jong Il on the rostrum was Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, who arrived here Saturday morning for a three-day official visit.
Ri Yong Ho, chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) and the other vice chairman of the WPK's Central Military Commission, reviewed the troops before the parade started.
Kim Jong Il and others on the rostrum saluted the arrays when they goose-stepped or rolled in front of them to the accompaniment of clangorous music of a military band.
Hundreds of thousands of people assembled on Kim Il Sung Square across the rostrum, waving bouquets and presenting different designs from time to time during the ceremony.