Inside North Korea

In a very rare and embarrassing public admission of failure by the hermit state, North Korea today said that its much-hyped, long-range rocket launch had flopped. Not only was it mortifying for the nation, it also is a blow for its new young leader who faces international outrage over the aggressive attempt. The isolated North, using the launch to celebrate the 100th birthday of the dead founding president Kim Il-sung and to mark the rise to power of his grandson Kim Jong-un, is now widely expected to press ahead with its third nuclear test to show its military strength. The defiant launch drew condemnation from world leaders who described it as a "provocative" act threatening regional security, despite Pyongyang insisting it was intended to put a satellite into orbit for peaceful purposes. The United States and its allies slammed the exercise as a disguised ballistic missile test that contravened United Nations resolutions triggered by Pyongyang's two nuclear tests. Here are a few rare scenes from within the reclusive state: