N Korean leader boasts nuke test as ‘great victory’ at celebration

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.

Its latest nuke provocation has intensified tension on the peninsula to a new high, prompting the United Nations Security Council to push for a stronger sanctions resolution against the repressive regime, including an oil embargo and a freeze on Kim’s assets.

The United States officially requested the UNSC to vote on its draft resolution today.

Kim called the nuke test “a great victory won by the Korean people at the cost of their blood,” and called on the officials to “follow the fighting spirit and trait of the nuclear combatants,” the KCNA said.