North Korea appears to have held a low-key military parade, a day ahead of the Winter Olympics, South Korean media said.

Its timing drew criticism from the US as it's the first time in 40 years the annual event has been held in February.

Early on Thursday state television began showing patriotic films in what appeared to be a prelude to a live broadcast of the parade.

But reports later surfaced that it had already taken place.

"It seems that North Korea opened the parade at 10:30 a.m. (Seoul time)," anonymous government sources told South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

In 2017, North Korea aired a live broadcast of its military parade on state television. Foreign journalists had been invited to cover the event.

South Korean government officials said last month that some 13,000 troops and 200 pieces of equipment had been spotted near an airport in Pyongyang in what appeared to be a rehearsal for the parade. Experts said Pyongyang was expected to showcase its long-range missiles.

(Source: BBC)