The Democratic People's Republic of Korea fired a long-range rocket early Friday that splintered into pieces over the Yellow Sea about a minute after takeoff in an apparent failure, the country's official news agency, as well as South Korean and US officials said.

The reportedly failed launch occurred a day after Yuri Karash, a space policy expert with the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics, told China Daily that the DPRK missile launch had a 60 to 70 percent chance of succeeding. The Russian space expert was in Pyongyang to witness the launch.

He said the launch was not only technologically important to the DPRK, but also politically.

The liftoff took place at 7:39 am from the west coast launch pad in the hamlet of Tongchang-ri, according to intelligence from the US and the Republic of Korea.

The US, the Republic of Korea and many other countries had warned against the launch, calling it a provocation and a cover to test missile technology. The DPRK had insisted it would not back down, and said the rocket would only carry a civilian satellite, called the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite, touting it as a major technological achievement to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the country's founder, Il-sung, on Sunday.

The nation staked its pride on the satellite, seeing it as a show of strength amid persistent economic hardship while Il-sung's grandson, the 29-year-old Jong-un, solidifies power following the death of his father, longtime leader Jong-il, four months ago.

Victor Cha, former director for Asia policy in the US National Security Council, said the next step would be to watch whether the DPRK conducts a nuclear test, as has been speculated by the Republic of Korea's intelligence community. The DPRK is reportedly making preparations for such a test soon.

"We have to watch very carefully what they are doing now at the nuclear test site and how they explain this with all those foreign journalists in the country," Cha said.

In Pyongyang, there was no word about a launch on Thursday. At Il Sung Square, the city's main plaza, residents were sitting around waiting for a rehearsal for upcoming celebrations.

It had earlier said that the rocket would be fired any day between April 12 and 16. The daily window was supposed to be 7 am to noon.

Republic of Korea's Foreign Minister Sung-hwan said the rocket launch was confirmed a "failure". He provided no details.

Earlier on Friday, the Republic of Korea's Defense Ministry spokesman Min-seok told reporters the rocket splintered into pieces moments after takeoff.

"We have confirmed that a certain flying object has been launched and fell after flying for just over a minute," Japanese Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said. He said there was no impact on Japanese territory.

Chances of a failed launch were considerably higher for the DPRK compared to countries with more experienced space programs. This is the DPRK's third launch since 1998, though Karesh had said that the nation has "a fully operational system that has all the necessary elements in place to ensure the successful launch".

DPRK space officials had said the Unha-3, or Galaxy-3, rocket was meant to send a satellite into orbit to study crops and weather patterns.

Officials took foreign journalists to the west coast site to see the rocket and the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite Sunday in a bid to show its transparency amid accusations of defiance.

Brian Weeden, a technical adviser at Secure World Foundation and former Air Force officer at the US Space Command said the launch appeared to be a failure of both space and missile objectives.

(China Daily 04/13/2012 page2)