EDITORIAL - Up in smoke

To the embarrassment of its new leadership, North Korea’s rocket launch ended up in smoke yesterday. The rocket, supposedly meant to send a satellite into orbit, blew up a few minutes after takeoff, breaking up about 100 kilometers from the launch site.

North Korea ignored international protests against what the US and other countries believed was a disguised missile test, and pushed ahead with the rocket launch to celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of its founding leader Kim Il-sung. The launch was also supposed to serve as a grand welcome for new leader Kim Jong-un, the third generation of the Kim dictatorship.

Instead Pyongyang reaped condemnation from the United Nations Security Council and humiliation for a failed launch. Funds for the costly rocket program could have been used instead for food in a country where millions are malnourished or starving. Analysts now fear that Kim may attempt a third nuclear test, to recover lost face. Pyongyang had earlier promised not to conduct such tests or launch long-range rockets in exchange for food aid from Washington.

The only positive sign from the Hermit Kingdom is that Pyongyang quickly and publicly confirmed reports in the US and Japan that the rocket launch was a disastrous failure. The world is watching if Kim, believed to be in his late 20s, will usher his country out of isolation and shift spending priorities. Still technically at war with South Korea, the North has invested heavily in defense, at the expense of its 23 million people who lack the most basic needs starting with food. Meanwhile, the South has become the world’s 13th largest economy, with its per capita GDP estimated at $23,749 as of last year.

There are hopes that Kim, who received some education in Switzerland, will realize the folly of keeping his country as an international pariah. Even Myanmar looks serious in implementing reforms, with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi soon to take her seat in parliament following free elections. But the Kims have a long record of erratic behavior. The world can only hope that the failed rocket launch will compel Kim to rethink his government’s priorities.