South Korea was set to launch its first rocket from the country’s Naro Space Center today, but a technical glitch just minutes before lift-off has resulted in the mission being aborted, according to Lee Sang-mok, an official with South Korea’s Science Ministry.
News of the planned launch has angered neighboring North Korea, ruled by local supervillain Kim Jong Il, whose own recent rocket launch drew denunciations and sanctions from the United Nations.
North Korea’s official news agency (motto: If You Didn’t Hear it Here, You Will Be Shot) released a statement via Twitter saying that launch would be closely watched to see if it draws the same sanctions as North Korea.
That’s right, not only does North Korea’s official news service use Twitter, it uses it to unleash sour grapes.
Experts (in the case, expert can be defined as anyone with two or more functioning brain cells) agree that South Korea is unlikely to receive the same sanctions as North Korea, for the following reasons:
1. South Korea’s space program has been developed in an open and transparent way, under codified international agreements.
2. North Korea doesn’t roll that way.
North Korea’s launch involved a powerful intercontinental ballistic missile, which puts the country in violation of previous strictures laid down by the United Nations.
The official line from supervillain controlled North Korea is that this rocket worked just fine, and there is now a North Korean communications satellite in orbit.
The official line in the rest of the world is that North Korea is blatantly lying, and the rocket and payload are currently resting comfortably on the bottom of the ocean.
