ANKARA

North Korea may showcase its military might as early as midnight Wednesday as the country will celebrate the 70th anniversary of its "Victory Day" on Thursday.

According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, commercial satellite imagery has shown that North Korea is preparing for the military parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang.

"The parade could begin as early as midnight and stretch into the wee hours," the Seoul-based news agency quoted an unnamed government official as saying.

Pyongyang’s recent missile launches have further heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

On Tuesday, the South Korean military claimed that North Korea fired two ballistic missiles from areas near Pyongyang into the East Sea at 11:55 p.m. (1455GMT) on July 24 and at midnight on the 25th.

Missile launches came after the second US nuclear-powered submarine, USS Annapolis, made a port call at a naval base on the southern island of Jeju in South Korea on Monday.

Last week, it was the first time that a nuclear-powered US submarine, USS Kentucky, visited Busan port in South Korea since 1981.

In response, Pyongyang fired missiles twice last Wednesday and Saturday and threatened with pre-emptive strikes, triggering a sharp response from Seoul, which warned of “ending the regime” in North Korea over such a move.

The USS Kentucky submarine left South Korea on Friday.

Russian, Chinese delegations to attend celebrations

The 70th anniversary of North Korea’s Victory Day in the Great Fatherland Liberation War of 1950-1953 will also be attended by Chinese officials, and a Russian military delegation, led by Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu.

The war started on June 25, 1950, and ended on July 27, 1953, after the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement.

Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also visited the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery on Tuesday and paid tribute to the "martyrs."

"The miracle of July 27, the first defenders of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] brought about while reliably safeguarding the outpost of the anti-imperialist struggle in an eastern part of the earth, is a victory of the distinguished and ardent patriotic cause of the army and people of the DPRK," the Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim as saying.