Today is Gaecheonjeol, Korea's Nat'l Foudation Day. It is observed in both Koreas, although only in the South is it a public holiday. Normally a commemoration ceremony is held at Seoul's Sajik Park outside Dangun Shrine. Dangun is viewed as the progenitor of the Korean people. pic.twitter.com/TMNHlNh1W5
We kept hearing from the media how North Korea was going to launch an ICBM during their Foundation Day holiday and instead they used the holiday to celebrate their successful hydrogen bomb test:
This file photo, released by the Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 10, 2017, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un holding hands with other ranking officials at a banquet in celebration of its latest nuclear test conducted on Sept. 3. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hailed the latest nuclear test as “a great victory” at a celebration banquet, and praised the officials and experts for their efforts in carrying out the successful experiment, its state media said Sunday.
The Central Committee and the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea hosted a feast to mark the North’s sixth and the most powerful test conducted last week, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Last Sunday, Pyongyang said it conducted a hydrogen bomb test at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the country’s northeast, which it claimed can fit on an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the United States.
Kim appeared at the banquet hall in the Mokran House, attended by other ranking military officials, and heaped praise on the attendees for “most proudly and realistically carrying out the tasks,” the state mouthpiece said.
Although it did not specify when the banquet was held, it is presumed to have taken place Saturday, which marked the 69th founding anniversary of the regime’s establishment.
During the banquet, they played video footage on a large screen of what is presumed to be a hydrogen bomb warhead being assembled by its scientists, according to its state television network. [Yonhap]
