Seoul, Feb 15 (IANS): North Korea is expected to mark the upcoming birthday of late leader Kim Jong-il with the usual commemorative events rather than holding any special celebrations, the South Korean Unification Ministry said.

Sunday marks the 78th birthday of the late leader and father of current leader Kim Jong-un, reports the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency.

It is one of the country's biggest national holidays, as well as the birthday of Kim Il-sung, the North's late founding leader and grandfather of the current leader.

"North Korea is likely to hold celebrations at a scale similar to previous years after taking various situations into consideration," Cho Hey-sil, the Ministry's deputy spokesperson, told the media on Friday.

The North tends to mark every fifth or 10th anniversary with larger-scale events, such as military provocations, including missile launches, or parades of troops, newly developed strategic weapons and other military hardware.