North designates Nov. 18 as 'Missile Industry Day'

North Korea test-fires a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile from Pyongyang International Airport on Nov. 18, Pyongyang’s state media reported on Nov. 19. [YONHAP]

North Korea has designated Nov. 18 as "Missile Industry Day" to commemorate the successful test launch of the regime's Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in 2022, Pyongyang's state media said Sunday.

The North’s ICBM test on Nov. 18 last year was celebrated by leader Kim Jong-un as a symbol of his regime’s ability to deter any nuclear threats.

According to the North’s state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Nov. 18 was designated as Missile Industry Day because the test last year reaffirmed the North’s “might” as a “world-class nuclear power” and demonstrated its possession of viable ICBM capabilities “to the whole world.”

The decision was made at a session of the Permanent Commission of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea, according to the KCNA.

North Korean state media reports on the Hwasong-17 test said the missile reached an altitude of 6,040.9 kilometers after being fired at a lofted angle trajectory.

The missile’s flight time was 68 minutes, and it flew just under 1,000 kilometers before landing in the East Sea, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time.

Last week, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in a closed-door meeting that the North is currently in “end-stage preparations” to conduct its third attempt at launching a military spy satellite into orbit.

North Korea had said that it planned to carry out its third attempt to launch a spy satellite into space in October after the failure of its previous attempts in May and August.

The spy agency told lawmakers that the chances of the launch succeeding this time are higher, thanks to suspected Russian technological assistance after Kim and Putin’s summit.

An editorial published by the North’s main newspaper also warned Sunday that military cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan could plunge the Korean Peninsula into nuclear war.

The editorial carried in the Workers’ Party-controlled Rodong Sinmun warned that trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo had reached a “very dangerous stage” that could lead to “a nuclear war and the third world war.”

The editorial claimed that the North had armed itself with nuclear weapons “to protect our sovereignty and the wellbeing of our people” from “aggression” by the United States and “its lackeys.”

The Rodong Sinmun also said the regime’s military activities were aimed at “self-defense” against “the enemy’s warmongering,” as well as to “protect peace and stability of the region.”

The KCNA previously said Saturday that a “tightening” military alliance between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo could push the Korean Peninsula into an “uncontrollable phase.”

The three countries’ naval forces conducted their first joint maritime interdiction exercise south of Jeju Island in seven years, which they said was aimed at strengthening security coordination in the face of North Korea’s advancing threats.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]