April 13th, 2012
01:16 AM ET

North Korea rocket breaks up in flight

Defying warnings from the international community, North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Friday, but it broke apart before escaping the earth's atmosphere and fell into the sea, officials said.

"It flew about a minute, and it flew into the ocean," said Noriyuki Shikata, a spokesman for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

He added that Japanese authorities "have not identified any negative impacts, so far," though he said the international ramifications could be significant. "This is something that we think is a regrettable development," he said.

Joseph Cirincione, president of the global security foundation The Ploughshares Fund, told CNN that the launch's apparent failure "shows the weakness of the North Korea missile program" and suggests that the threat from North Korea has been "exaggerated."

"It's a humiliation," he told CNN. "I wouldn't want to be a North Korean rocket scientist today."

FULL STORY

Filed under: World
soundoff (20 Responses)
  1. Mr Dalloway

    Just goes to show that rockets should not consists of cardboard and aluminum.

    April 13, 2012 at 2:21 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Jeff Frank (R-Ohio) "Right wing Insanity"

    My body odor brought down the missle.

    April 13, 2012 at 4:04 pm | Report abuse |
  3. hamsta

    remember how crappy hyundai was in the 80s?by those standards we still have 25 years before korea can build a decent rocket.

    April 13, 2012 at 9:12 pm | Report abuse |
    • dazzle©

      @hamsta, thankfully for that. Once I get rid of my 12 year old Toyota, I am buying American.

      April 13, 2012 at 9:17 pm | Report abuse |
  4. bobcat (in a hat) ©

    Very late entry.

    We can no make rocket stay in air. Maybe next time we fuel rocket with viagra. Then it stay up long time.

    April 15, 2012 at 12:59 pm | Report abuse |
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