Today will see a military parade by the Workers and Peasants Red Guard, part of North Korea's 7.7 million strong reserve forces, to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the Chosun People’s Army, according to a source in Pyongyang.

However, the event will reportedly be much smaller than that held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung on April 15th, and is likely to be similar in scale and style to another Workers and Peasant Red Guard parade held on September 9th last year to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the founding of the state.

Meanwhile, the Chosun People's Army is also apparently leading calls for Kim Jong Eun, as supreme commander, to be endowed with the military rank of ‘marshal’ on this day. According to the source, “The Party Committee of the People’s Army recently initiated a petition aimed at corps commanders and political commissars at every level, calling for the rank of ‘marshal’ to be bestowed on the Supreme Commander on Army Foundation Day.”

Elsewhere, the day is likely to be taken as a further chance for Kim Jong Eun to reaffirm the regime’s dedication to the military-first political line, according to experts. “Kim Jong Eun will show his affection for the military on Army Foundation Day, and will display deeper hostility to the United States,” explained one, Park Hyeong Jung of the Korea Institute for National Unification.