Despite Failure, World Denounces N.Korea Launch

World leaders moved quickly to denounce North Korea's attempt to launch a long range rocket despite its failure, saying it violates U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The United Nations Security Council will meet today to discuss the provocation, while North Korean rocket experts try to figure out why the launch failed.

Pyongyang's attempt to defy the international community fizzled when the launch of a 90-ton, long-range rocket ended in embarrassment.

The launch lasted a mere 81 seconds before the rocket disintegrated. North Korea claimed this was only a weather satellite, launched in honor of the 100th birth year of founder Kim IL Sung. Earlier this week, his grandson, Kim Jung-un, took over as the nation's "supreme leader."

"This one is a huge deal," North Korean analyst Cedric Leighton said. "Because it is also Kim Jong-Un's first attempt at really showing his muscle on the international stage. And that failed."

North Korea said the launch was part of a peaceful effort to send a satellite into space. But the United States and its allies called it "a cover" for a test of military technology that could be used to develop a long-range missile.

"The concern is not that they're going to shoot them at the United States, but they could sell them. They could sell this technology," Victor Cha, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said.

"They've sold every missile that they've ever developed to the Iranians, the Pakistanis and others," he said.

The U.N. Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting to discuss the matter Friday.

"Despite the fact it failed, it was a dangerous and provocative act," Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.

The White House said it will suspend 240,000 tons of food aid needed for starving North Koreans. U.S, officials fear the communist nation will soon conduct a nuclear test, because of increased activity at a nuclear site.

"Whenever you see that kind of activity, that is usually indicative of preparation for a nuclear test; it's all being done at the same site," Cha said.

What is as surprising as the launch's spectacular failure is that the North Korean government admitted it to it's own people on state TV.

One citizen, upon hearing the news, said that even big nations like the United States have failures.

CBN News