Crisis

Did North Korea's Missile Fail?

United Nations, meanwhile, fails to respond.

North Korea’s missile launch was meant to intimidate the world, but did it embarrass itself instead? The New York Times reports that North Korea’s missile failed to carry its satellite into orbit and instead fell into the sea about 1,300 miles off the coast of Japan. According to the Times, “space experts said the failure represented a blow that in all likelihood would seriously delay the missile’s debut.” The Los Angeles Times notes, however, that the missile launch was more successful than North Korea’s last attempt. Meanwhile, the fallout from the missile launch may not be entirely bad: President Obama seized on it to give a speech about nuclear nonproliferation in Prague. He said, “The need for action, not just this afternoon at the U.N. Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons.” The United Nations, so far, has failed to agree on a response to North Korea.