Marcus Noland, an expert on North Korea from the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC, said the three North Korean nuclear test is now inevitable. "Before the launch of this rocket, the third nuclear test North Korea is still a possibility. Now, it can be said is definitely going to happen, "Noland wrote in his blog.
Toshimitsu Shigemura, North Korea watchers from Waseda University, Tokyo, said, as the new leader is still very young and the ability to doubt, Jong Un need to do something to seek legitimacy. "In order to gain legitimacy, he needs a satellite or missile launch successful, but it failed," said Shigemura.
Exploded in the air
North Korea's 30-meter rocket called Unha-3 (Galaxy-3) was launched quietly in Cholsan from the launch site, the northwestern part of North Korea, Friday, at 7 through 38 minutes and 55 seconds.
However, the rocket flew for only 2 minutes and 15 seconds before the burst in the air. "We are confident the missile broke in two, possibly due to exploding," said Kim Min Seok,South Korea's Defense Ministry spokesman.
Broken rocket reached an altitude of 70.5 kilometers while in the Yellow Sea at a speed of 5.6 times the speed of sound. Two pieces of the rockets continued to slide to a height of 151.4 kilometers before it broke up into small pieces and crashed in the waters west of the South.
North Korea insists it launched a rocket called for placing satellites in orbit aimed at civilians. However, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) said the rocket it is long-range Taepodong 2 missile.