Humiliation as North Korean missile launch ends in failure

NORTH Korea was forced to make a humiliating public admission of failure yesterday after its muchhyped long range missile launch ended in disaster.

In a rare move for the secretive state, international journalists had been invited to witness the launch, supposed to display the nation’s technological prowess.

But within 80 seconds of takeoff, the rocket had splintered into pieces. Embarrassed officials were left asking what had happened after the broken rocket crashed into the Yellow Sea.

Eventually, four hours after the controversial launch, an announcement on TV acknowledged the failure, saying the satellite the rocket was carrying had been unable to enter orbit.

The launch was meant to be the key part of 100th birthday celebrations for the dead founding president Kim Il Sung, and to mark the rise to power of his grandson Kim Jong Un. Last night, amid considerable anger, an inquiry was under way to explain the failure – and to identify the scientists responsible.

World leaders were swift to denounce the launch, calling it a covert test of missile technology and a flagrant violation of international resolutions prohibiting North Korea from developing its nuclear and missile programmes.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was ‘ deeply concerned’.