Rare live broadcast

The live broadcast of the parade at Kim Il-sung Plaza on North Korean state TV is also an unusual departure from broadcasting norms in the country, where any broadcasts are heavily censored.North Korea's senior leadership had gathered on Saturday at May Day Stadium for speeches celebrating the occasion.

Later in the evening, Kim Jong-il brought dancers at the gymnastics extravaganza, known as the Arirang Mass Games, to tears by making a rare appearance, accompanied by Kim Jong-un and Zhou Yongkang, the visiting senior Chinese Communist Party official.

Kim Jong-il waved to the crowd, drawing a frenzy of applause from onlookers, in what is believed to be his first appearance at the Arirang spectacle in years.

The two Kims' appearance turned the Arirang show - part theatre, part circus, and involving some 100,000 performers - into a VIP event attended by wartime heroes, foreign dignitaries and the international press, who were given front-row seats.


The festivities began on Friday night with fireworks that lit up the sky over central Pyongyang.

Students danced across the city's plazas and brass bands played "Please Receive the Best Wishes of the People," the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.