Despite the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) being probably the last truly Stalinist state around, the launch of their satellite/rocket* (depends on what you believe in) earlier today has received a lot of attention from international media and diplomatic officials. Mostly thanks to North Korea herself. And here is the problem I did not see being addressed in these insightful analyses and broadcasts today.
It is widely agreed that the launch has failed because the Koreans from the North had not been ready for it as they had rushed with their preparations in order to meet the 100th anniversary of the birth of national founder, Kim Il-sung. If that was primary motivation behind the launch, it should have been done behind the closed door with the achievement successfully announced to the fooled nation of North Koreans regardless of the actual outcome. They have a track record of delivering it rather well.
So why had the Pyongyang officials invited the representatives of foreign media to witness it if they had been surely aware that a spectacular failure is a quite possible option? Over the years, a careful preparation and precision in every detail was what they had become known for. Moreover, hypothetically, even if the launch had been successful, in no scenario North Korea could have received good publicity anyway. Why then the DPRK wants to be talked about again in such a fragile moment when their new leader Kim Jong-un has not settled in his role yet?
No matter how you look at the launch, it was never going to be a diplomatic success. Instead, it looked more like a desperate PR stunt aiming to boost popularity of a falling Hollywood star. North Korea, however, certainly is in no place to need to be on every diplomat’s lips.
The international community and neighbours are certainly even more concerned about further developments now as Pyongyang may act as a wounded bull. It is a lose-lose diplomatic equation with only Tehran enjoying some temporary relief.
(The author previously worked on a Wikistrat research project aiming to assess the future trajectory of North Korea's geopolitics.)
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