If you blinked, you may have missed the North Korean missile launch yesterday. For weeks, reports from South Korea and Japan have been speculating on the North Korean rocket launch which was to put a satellite into orbit, celebrating the 100th birthday of the nation′s founder, Kim Il Sung. But his grandson, Kim Jong Un now has egg on his face after the rocket crashed into the Yellow Sea less than two minutes after blasting off. The three-stage rocket did not get very far at all, with most analysts believing that there was a malfunction either with the second stage, or possibly even with the first stage. Now all eyes are focused on some excavation underway at the site where North Korea conducts their nuclear tests. The possibility that they will explode a third nuclear device underground has many worried.

north korean rocket launch

The failure of yesterday′s launch is a major setback for North Korea. Their last attempt with this version of their long-ranged missile also ended in disaster as its third stage failed. They thought they had worked out all of the bugs in the first two stages already, but obviously that is not the case.

Many countries, even Russia, have condemned North Korea for their attempted launch. Just weeks after a tentative deal was struck to allow food sales to the starving nation, the North Koreans prove once again just how rogue of a state they are. Some estimates are that their missile program spent over $800 Million dollars of ′hard currency′ to fund the launch yesterday. That would have been enough money to feed the entire country for a whole year.

The North Korean missile launch ended in failure yesterday, which is bad news for them as well as for Iran, who work jointly on such technology. The North Korean rocket launch was to have placed a small weather satellite into low-Earth orbit. As a weapon, it is estimated that the missile could have carried a nuclear warhead some 4,000-plus miles. But the three-stage rocket crashed into the Yellow Sea as it flew due South well away from the coast of South Korea. Less than two minutes from blast-off, the missile was in the drink. Back to the drawing board as we now await a nuclear weapon test to celebrate the 100th birthday of Kim Il Sung. Will his grandson, Kim Jong Un ever live this failure down?