For Kim Il Sung's 110th birthday, no tanks or missiles, but a crowd.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a huge parade of citizens on Friday to celebrate his grandfather and the country's founder, according to footage released by state media.
South Korean and American officials had estimated that a nuclear test could take place as part of these celebrations.
They also expected a military parade.
But Friday's commemoration was marked by a parade of civilians and fireworks.
April 15, called the "Day of the Sun", is one of the most important dates in the Pyongyang calendar because Kim Il Sung, grandfather of Kim Jong Un, was born on this date.
Photos from the official KCNA news agency show Kim Jong Un waving from a balcony in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang to thousands of colorfully dressed people.
"Columns of workers, peasant dancers and other people marched through the square," waving banners bearing socialist slogans, KCNA said.
The leader also visited the Kumsusan Sun Palace in Pyongyang which houses the embalmed remains of his father, as well as that of Kim Il Sung.
A false image of prosperity
In the days leading up to the anniversary, state media extensively covered the inauguration of new building complexes and showed images of wreaths photographed by people with smartphones.
For Leif-Eric Easley, associate professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, the aim was to "depict an economy that is not only resilient but growing".
The country is however in the grip of a serious economic crisis, aggravated by international sanctions and the strict closure of its borders to protect itself from Covid-19.
"The Kim regime needs other sources of national pride and legitimacy than military parades," he said.
Three weeks after firing
These commemorations came three weeks after the largest intercontinental ballistic missile test in the country's history.
It is the first time that Kim Jong Un's most powerful weapons have been fired at full range since 2017, breaking a moratorium observed until then.
The absence of military activity on this anniversary day "does not mean, however, that North Korea has ceased to strengthen its military posture", added Leif-Eric Easley.
Satellite images showed signs of activity in a tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site that North Korea claimed it dismantled in 2018 ahead of a summit between Kim Jong Un and the then US president, Donald Trump.
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