How Kim Jong-Un Celebrates a Ballistic Missile Launch, in Photos

Siobhán O'Grady
Updated

There’s really only one way North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un could celebrate a successful missile launch: with fireworks and a coordinated dance party, of course.

Pyongyang honored its annual “Military First” holiday on Thursday, shortly after North Korea successfully launched a ballistic missile from a submarine. The missile flew more than 300 miles in a high trajectory before landing in the Sea of Japan; once operational, it could fly as far as 620 miles.

According to North Korean state media, Kim called it the “success of all successes.”

Photos published by North Korean media outlets show Kim hugging military officials to celebrate the test, and huge crowds who took to the streets of the capital to dance and watch fireworks in Kim Il-sung Square.

Officials in Washington and South Korea criticized the test, and called for Pyongyang to de-escalate its ongoing missile campaign, which is intended to showcase the isolated country’s supposed military force. It has heightened tensions between North Korea and Japan and South Korea, who worry that North Korea’s increasingly sophisticated missile systems could potentially overwhelm even advanced missile defenses already in place.

This week, North Korean officials threatened to turn both Washington and Seoul into “a heap of ashes” if they made moves to invade North Korean territory.

Below, Foreign Policy has embedded photos released by North Korean state media during Kim’s celebrations:

People watch a television screen reporting news of North Korea's latest submarine-launched ballistic missile test at a railway station in Seoul on August 25, 2016. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un declared a recent submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test the "greatest success", Pyongyang's state media said on August 25. / AFP / JUNG YEON-JE (Photo credit should read JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images)
A man walks past a television screen showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un celebrating its latest submarine-launched ballistic missile test at a railway station in Seoul on August 25, 2016. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un declared a recent submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test the "greatest success", Pyongyang's state media said on August 25. / AFP / JUNG YEON-JE (Photo credit should read JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images)
This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on August 25, 2016 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) laughing as he inspects a test-fire of strategic submarine-launched ballistic missile at an undisclosed location. / AFP / KCNA / KNS / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT / SOUTH KOREA OUT ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PHOTO IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY AFP. / (Photo credit should read KNS/AFP/Getty Images)
This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on August 25, 2016 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) waving as he inspects a test-fire of strategic submarine-launched ballistic missile at an undisclosed location. / AFP / KCNA / KNS / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT / SOUTH KOREA OUT ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PHOTO IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY AFP. / (Photo credit should read KNS/AFP/Getty Images)

Photo credit: JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images