North Korea’s Birthday Party Touts Nuclear Scientists, But No Missile Tests

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), known informally as North Korea, celebrated its 69th birthday Saturday, and instead of a show of force, like a missile test, as experts feared, the country held a banquet for its nuclear scientists and engineers.

North Korea, who long has had a blustery rhetoric towards the U.S. has ramped up its missile and nuclear weapons tests this year. The tests show a series of advancements and that the country is well on its way to being able to deliver a nuclear weapon to the continental U.S.

North Korea tested its sixth nuclear device last week, its mot powerful ever. Though North Korea has claimed that the test was a hydrogen bomb, experts doubt the veracity of the claim. The bomb was still four to 16 times more powerful than any other North Korea has tested before, according to the New York Times.

South Korean officials feared that given the recent spate of tests and the harsh United NAtions (U.N.) sanctions being considered for North Korea Friday, that a missile or bomb test was imminent Saturday.

Kim Jong Un, the country’s leader, brought the country's nuclear technicians to capital city Pyongyang for a celebration and a day full of cultural activities. The state-run media wing of North Korea, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), reported that the scientists received a hero’s welcome as they traveled from the nuclear testing site to Pyongyang.

“The DPRK is making a leap forward full of faith under the great plan for building a socialist power under the guidance of respected Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un in the face of the worst adversity, greeting the heyday of its development,” said party leader Kim Yong Nam, according to KCNA. “No force on the earth can block the heroic advance of the DPRK dashing ahead like the storming wind under the banner of self-reliance.”

The banquet included patriotic and musical performances, according to state media.

North Korea also tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in July, both with a theoretical range of being able to hit the U.S. ICBMs launch their payload into space, where it arcs down, re-entering the atmosphere before hitting its target. Some experts believe that though it appears as if North Korea has developed a nuclear warhead, but it can’t yet withstand re-entry through earth’s atmosphere.

President Donald Trump has lashed out at other country’s that trade with North Korea, China and even the U.S.’s ally South Korea in frustration over the country’s continued push for ever more powerful nuclear weapons. Trump has said that all option are on the table with North Korea, even military ones.

“Each day, new equipment is delivered; new and beautiful equipment, the best in the world -- the best anywhere in the world, by far. Hopefully, we're not going to have to use it on North Korea,” said Trump last week.

The U.N. will look at ever more strict sanctions, but whether China and Russia, who usually object to such measures, will go along with them, is yet to be seen.