North Korea acknowledged that its recent rocket launch into orbit had been unsuccessful, on Friday. The rocket was in the air for a minute and a half, shorter than its previous launch, before exploding in midair. The debris from the rocket landed 165 km west of Seoul.
The U.S Navy, along with South Korean destroyers, have commenced a search operation to collect the debris in order to analyse the technology used by North Korea in the development of the rocket.
North Korea launched the rocket in commemoration of Kim II Sung’s centennial birth.
Expressing concern over the rocket launch, US president, Barack Obama said,
The U.S has warned Pyongyang that it will face additional sanctions if it were to defy international community again."They've been trying to launch missiles like this for over a decade now and they don't seem to be real good at it."
"We will continue to keep the pressure on them and they'll continue to isolate themselves until they take a different path."