DPRK celebrates founding anniversary, doesn’t launch missile

World Today

This picture taken and released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 9, 2017 shows North Korean residents offering flowers before the statues of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang during celebrations of the 69th anniversary of North Korea’s national day. (AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIA KNS / KNS)

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea this weekend celebrated the anniversary of the country’s founding. While Pyongyang celebrated, the international community anxiously awaited another missile launch. CGTN’s Toby Muse reports.

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Amid tensions over the DPRK’s nuclear program, the isolated country celebrated its 69th birthday.

Neighbors of the secretive and sometimes unpredictable nation had feared the DPRK might conduct another missile test to celebrate its founder’s day anniversary, as it has in past years.

In the end, no test was detected.

DPRK leader, Kim Jong Un, hosted a celebration for its nuclear scientists. State-run media organization KCNA did not specify when the banquet was held. Outside analysts, however, guess it was on Saturday.

This undated picture released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 10, 2017 shows a performance dedicated to nuclear scientists and technicians, who worked on a hydrogen bomb which the regime claimed to have successfully tested. (AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIA KNS / STR)

The DPRK says its nuclear program is the central tenant of its defense against what it fears is a potential U.S. invasion.

Following recent nuclear tests, American officials worry that the country is close to producing a nuclear weapon that could reach mainland United States.

The U.S. has called for a meeting at the UN on Monday to vote for stricter sanctions on the DPRK.

China and Russia have appealed for calm on all sides and more talks to resolve the crisis.