North Korea is likely to mark its key anniversary with a variety of celebratory events, rather than a provocative act such as a long-range rocket launch, South Korea said Tuesday.

North Korea is expected to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea on Saturday without announcing new lines of policies, according to the Unification Ministry.

"There has been no sign of an imminent rocket launch by the North, including the movement of a missile body," said a ranking ministry official, asking not to be named. "It usually takes two to four weeks for a rocket to be launched after it is moved into a launching site.

His remarks indicate that the North is unlikely to go ahead with a rocket launch around the anniversary in the face of the global community's strong warning against the North.

The North has recently ratcheted up its missile and nuclear threats, citing its sovereign right to launch "a series of satellites for peaceful purposes." Outside experts view the North's move as a cover for ballistic missile tests.

The government said that North Korea apparently plans to stage a massive military parade in Pyongyang by mobilizing a large number of people and displaying various types of weapons.

"There is a possibility that North Korea could display new weapons that the North has not made public," the official said, without elaborating.

He said that the North may show off submarine-launched ballistic missiles, which the North claimed it successfully fired in May or a road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile.

What is drawing attention is whether North Korea will display its Taepodong-2 long-range missiles or its new road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile, known as the KN-08, during the upcoming parade, experts said.

The North's Taepodong-2 missile is believed to be capable of reaching as far as Alaska if configured as an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear payload.

North Korea showed off a life-size mockup of what appears to be the KN-08 during a military parade in April 2012 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the North's late founder, Kim Il-sung.

The official said that North Korea appears to be preparing for various programs that can be "visually colorful" such as mass games, marches with torches and an air show.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un earlier instructed his people to thoroughly prepare for the 70th anniversary.

South Korea said that the North's leader has focused on accomplishments in construction projects, but floods in the city of Rason on the North's northeast tip might have hampered the related work.

The ministry also said North Korea has sent an invitation to about 20 countries, including Cuba and Southeast Asian nations, but it has not been confirmed which countries will send a delegation to the North's event.

"Around 20 to 30 foreign media companies from about 10 countries are known to have applied for visits to North Korea to cover the anniversary celebration," he said. (Yonhap)