In the bizarre ritual of North Korea, a recent rocket launch was intended to put the icing on the dynastic cake of the centennial birthday celebrations of the late dictator Kim Il Sung. The world press had been invited to the reclusive neo-Stalinist state, and the stage was aptly set for the kind of mass rally, goose-stepping parades that define North Korea, as well as for the formal political enthronement of Kim Jong Un. But the anticipated climax of the celebrations — a long-range missile launch — fizzled out and dropped into the Yellow Sea.
After the missile's failure shortly after takeoff, all eyes shifted from the political extravaganza in Pyongyang to the abject failure of a near billion dollar boondoggle that an impoverished socialist state can hardly afford. For a country living on United Nations humanitarian aid, this became an epic embarrassment.
The real question becomes — as it did with two previous missile failures in 2006 and 2009 — does the regime go for an encore nuclear test? Or to "save face" both inside North Korea and abroad, does Kim stage a military provocation against South Korea?