North Korea's Rocket Launch Fails

North Korea's long-range ballistic missile broke apart after its launch early Friday, according to the Associated Press. The rocket apparently flew 75 miles before it broke into four pieces and crashed into the sea, off the coast of the Korean peninsula.
News broke around 6:53 p.m. ET Thursday that the rocket, fueled at the launch site in Pyongyang on the country's western coast, had failed -- issuing a severe blow to one of the world's most secretive and belligerent regimes.
On Wednesday's NewsHour, John Isaacs of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation told Judy Woodruff that North's Korea's new missile was "sophisticated."
"If they can get it to work, it's sophisticated, I think, by definition," he said. "If it could carry a warhead thousands of kilometers, it would be very sophisticated, but that's not easy to do."

Watch North Korea's New Missile: 'It's Sophisticated' on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Watch Friday's NewsHour broadcast and visit the World page for more coverage on North Korea and its failed missile launch.

 By: News Desk