North Korea’s multi-stage rocket launch goes out with a fizzle
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In the end, North Korea’s provocative multi-stage rocket launch went out with a fizzle…not a bang. According to U.S., Japanese and South Korean sources, the North Korean rocket broke up shortly after lift-off Friday morning local time, spreading debris into the waters off South Korea.
“This is just a reminder,” Seoul-based North Korea expert Alexi Lankov told Fox News, “ that Pyongyang hasn’t developed a credible vehicle for a nuclear weapon delivery system.”
While noting the failure of the launch, White House spokesman Jay Carney still described the launch as “provocative,” and the U.S. says its suspension of a planned food aid delivery was still on.
As for North Korean officials, which had touted the launch as a peaceful civilian satellite endeavor, remained silent for hours after the early morning local time lift-off and reported failure.
KCNA North Korea's state news agency, would later admit simply that the satellite did not make orbit
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The launch had been billed as the centerpiece to festivities surrounding Sunday’s 100th anniversary of the birth date of North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung.
Its failure overshadowed a planned session of North Korea’s rubber stamp parliament the Supreme People’s Assembly which was set to further anoint Kim’s grandson Kim Jung-un with titles in line with his late father and former North Korean leader Kim Jung-il.