North Korean Headlines this Morning: Rocket Huge Success, Has Better Orbit Than American satellites. Weather To Be Broadcast in Chinese for No Apparent Reason

because of course the reality is that the rocket was a complete failure.

Kim Il Sung's 100th birthday rocket came at a huge cost. They lost food aid from the U.S. They spent million in a country who's national budget comes up about 12 billion shy of the state of Oregon and they even had their long time friends, the Chinese, openly criticize this move. All of it was for a rocket that failed. The U.S, Japan and south Korea have already threatened a response, but exactly what they can do is unclear.

I feel like my blogs on north Korea are all reruns. The Kim's do something nuts, south Korea and Japan threaten a response, the U.S media starts playing out worst case scenario's and war tactics (scary AND riveting) and the U.S government threatens undisclosed responses. Ultimately it will be up to China. They gave Kim II a proper spanking in 2009 after the last set of rocket tests and my guess is that they will do it again. My guess is that Kim III or other high level government officials will go to Beijing or northern China on an "invited tour" and have a "meeting" and the rocket program will be suspended. U.S media and unfortunately even a few policy makers seem too thick to pick up on these subtleties, but the Japanese and south Koreans are not. Diplomacy, Confucian style.

As to the DPRK satellite, well I guess it'll be a few years before Kim TV is available in our satellite packages. Shame to, I hear their new drama, 'The Working Dead', isn't half bad.