This image shows a 2023 North Korean calendar containing photos of a North Korean military parade featuring an assortment of ballistic missiles and artillery pieces. Yonhap

North Korea has distributed 2023 calendars, including one with photos of a massive military parade, to its citizens and others in China in an apparent move to highlight its military might.

Yonhap News Agency obtained five North Korean calendars in China, which are apparently meant for propaganda purposes, as Pyongyang has recently been doubling down on weapons tests to bolster "self-reliant" defense capabilities.

The calendars have been distributed to North Korean residents, ethnic Koreans and pro-North Korea Chinese in China.

Published by the North's Foreign Languages Publishing House, one calendar included a photo showing a transport vehicle carrying a missile in a military parade apparently designed to underscore progress in the North's weapons development projects.

Another calendar carried photos of key North Korean monuments, such as the Juche (self-reliance) Ideology Tower in Pyongyang, while another contained photos of flowers representing the two late leaders ― current leader Kim Jong-un's grandfather, Kim Il-sung, and his father, Kim Jong-il.

The calendars marked Kim Il-sung's birthday on April 15 as the Day of the Sun and Kim Jong-il's birthday on Feb. 16 as Kwangmyongsong Day. But they made no mention of the current leader's birthday on Jan. 8.

The calendars indicated Nov. 29 ― when the North launched its Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile and declared the completion of its nuclear force in 2017 ― as Aviation Day. In 2021, the North marked the day as both Aviation Day and Rocket Industry Day.

Last year, the North delivered just PDF calendars rather than paper ones due apparently to a shortage of paper and ink amid trade disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Yonhap)

North Korea has distributed 2023 calendars, including one with photos of a massive military parade, to its citizens and others in China in an apparent move to highlight its military might. Yonhap