Analysts say N. Korean rocket not a total failure

[Akoto]

Source: Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea's rocket may have fallen into the sea, but military experts cautioned Monday against calling it a complete failure, noting that it traveled twice as far as any missile the country has launched.

Although the distance was still far short of showing North Korea could reach U.S. territory, it rattled the North's neighbors and countries around the globe, with the U.S. and its allies pushing for quick punishment at an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting held hours after liftoff.

The launch, which demonstrated progress, is a particularly worrying development for a belligerent country that says it has nuclear weapons and once threatened to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire."

President Barack Obama, faced with his first global security crisis, called for an international response and condemned North Korea for threatening the peace and stability of nations "near and far" with what Pyongyang claimed was a satellite launch and its neighbors suspect was a test of a long-range missile technology.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_NKOREA_MISSILE?SITE=CAANR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[groundloop]

1. Realistically, what kind of 'response' could there be?

Their dictator is a lunatic, what could possibly be done to get his attention? The citizenry of North Korea live in dire poverty, any kind of embargo or blockade would only hurt them further while having no effect on Kim Jong Il. Maybe send in a special ops team and disable his new pizza ovens?