SEOUL, North Korea has designated a holiday to mark a test-firing of its Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in 2022, the North’s state media reported Sunday.
North Korea test-fired the ICBM on Nov. 18, 2022, with leader Kim Jong-un declaring that the missile reaffirmed his regime’s acquisition of a powerful and reliable capability to counter any nuclear threats.
Nov. 18 was designated as the Day of Missile Industry at a meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
The KCNA said North Korea “displayed dignity of the strongest intercontinental ballistic missile in the world” with the test-firing.
At that time, North Korea’s state media said the missile flew 999.2 kilometers for 4,135 seconds at an apogee of 6,040.9 km and landed in the international waters of the East Sea.
Last week, South Korea’s spy agency said North Korea is believed to be in the final stage of preparations to carry out what would be its third satellite launch after two failed attempts earlier this year.
After its second attempt failed in August, North Korea had said it would try again in October. But no such launch has happened, and the North has given no word as to why the launch has been postponed and when it will take place.
Source: Yonhap News Agency