The launch of a missile in the DPRK is evidence of the evolution of North Korea’s missile-development program.
Before this satellite launch, Pyongyang had launched a multi-stage rocket in December, 2012 – also to put a satellite in orbit.
In April of that same year, it had attempted to launch a similar three-stage rocket, which exploded after takeoff.
In April of 2009, it launched a three-stage rocket, which it hailed as a success, but which the West labeled a failure.
And in July of 2006, the DPRK test-fired a long-range missile.
Security analyst Jim Walsh on what the DPRK’s provocative rocket launch means
Jim Walsh is an international security analyst and a Research Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Security Studies Program in the U.S.