North Korea will celebrate its launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile with fireworks, the North’s state media said.

Lauding Tuesday’s test-firing of the Hwasong-14 as “a very great success,” the official Korean Central News Agency said a celebratory firework show will be held along the Taedong River in Pyongyang on Thursday evening. 

On Wednesday, North Korea’s state media claimed to have successfully tested an ICBM capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and striking the US mainland.

The test immediately sparked alarm in the international community, with US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley stressing Wednesday that the US is ready to use military force against North Korea if necessary.

Pyongyang has recently celebrated major national holidays such as New Year’s and the birthdays of its late and current leaders with fireworks. Fireworks displays were a less frequent tradition in the hermit state until Kim Jong-un rose to power in 2011.

A similar event was showcased in February 2016 to mark the successful liftoff of a long-range rocket that had allowed the nation to place an earth observation satellite in orbit, according to the North Korean National Aerospace Development Administration.

By Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)