It is now Sept. 9 in North Korea, meaning the country’s celebration of the 69th anniversary of its ruling party’s founding has officially begun…
It is now Sept. 9 in North Korea, meaning the country’s celebration of the 69th anniversary of the creation of the North Korean state has officially begun. Last year, the country celebrated its 68th anniversary with its fifth nuclear test. This year, the US and South Korea are anticipating another demonstration of military strength from the isolated country – most likely another missile test.
According to the Associated Press, Seoul’s Unification Ministry spokeswoman Eugene Lee said Friday that Pyongyang could potentially conduct its next ICBM tests this weekend or around Oct. 10. On the previous North Korean holiday, which took place in April, Kim Jong Un paraded what appeared to be an arsenal of ICBM’s through the center of Pyongyang to celebrate the birthday of Kim Il Sung, Kim’s grandfather and the founder of North Korea.
Any missile test would be the country’s first since it fired a medium-range missile over the Northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, an escalation that alarmed US and Japanese officials and briefly sent stocks reeling before the dip was immediately bought. A few days before, the North fired three short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan.
However, the North hasn’ t tested a missile with intercontinental range since July, when it twice tested its developmental Hwasong-14 ICBMs. Analysts say the flight data from the launches indicate the missiles could cover a broad swath of the continental United States, including major cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago, when perfected, according to the AP.
While the North has previously fired the ICBMs at highly lofted angles to reduce ranges and avoid other countries, South Korean officials say the next launches could be conducted at angles close to operational as the North would seek to test whether the warheads survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry.
