US Withdraws Food Aid From North Korea

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The U.S. will not go forward with planned food aid for North Korea after the nation’s unsuccessful attempt to launch a long-range missile rocket, the White House said.

“Despite the failure of its attempted missile launch, North Korea’s provocative action threatens regional security, violates international law and contravenes its own recent commitments,” the White House said in a statement condemning the launch.

President Obama has been prepared to engage with North Korea in a constructive manner, the statement said, but he also insists that the country live up to its earlier commitments and international obligations.

North Korea’s much-anticipated rocket launch ended quickly in failure early Friday, splintering into pieces over the Yellow Sea soon after takeoff.

North Korea acknowledged in an announcement broadcast on state TV that a satellite launched hours earlier from the west coast failed to enter into orbit. The U.S. and South Korea also declared the launch a failure.

A senior U.S. official told Fox News the rocket broke apart between 90 seconds and 2 minutes after launching.

Data suggests the rocket broke up in mid-flight inside the Earth’s atmosphere. Officials say the rocket did not fall into any populated areas, suggesting it fell into the ocean.

The rocket likely broke apart between the first and second stages of a three phase process.

“This is just a reminder,” Seoul-based North Korea expert Alexi Lankov told Fox News, “ that Pyongyang hasn’t developed a credible vehicle for a nuclear weapon delivery system.”

Japan’s Defense Minister Naiki Tanaka said, “We have confirmed that a certain flying object has been launched and fell after flying for just over a minute.” He did not say what exactly was launched.

He said there was no impact on Japanese territory from the launch.