North Korea: Pyongyang in mass show of strength

North Koreans attend a rally to celebrate the successful launch of the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket (REUTERS)

A triumphant North Korea staged a mass rally of soldiers and civilians to glorify the country’s young ruler, who this week sent a satellite into orbit in defiance of international warnings.

The rocket launch came just eight months after a similar attempt ended in an embarrassing public failure, and just under a year after Kim Jong Un inherited power following his father’s death.

The success of the launch may have earned Kim, 29, global condemnation, but at home, the gamble paid off, at least in the short term. To his people, it made Kim appear powerful, capable and determined in the face of foreign adversaries.

Reuters