NHK WORLD, 16 February, 2018— North Korea has pledged to advance its nuclear and missile programs on the eve of the birthday of leader Kim Jong Un’s late father.

The North held an assembly in Pyongyang on Thursday to celebrate the 76th anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s birthday on February 16th. The day is a national holiday.

Kim Jong Un skipped the meeting in the country’s capital. But the vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Choe Ryong Hae, delivered a speech at the gathering.

Choe stressed that North Korea should firmly strengthen its self-defensive nuclear deterrence and step up the development and production of powerful, cutting-edge military hardware.

Pyongyang staged a military parade on February 8th, the eve of the opening ceremony of the Olympics. The procession featured intercontinental-class ballistic missiles, including the Hwasong-15.