The success of North Korea's rocket launching on Wednesday, which appeared to propel a satellite into orbit, was greeted with officially sanctioned displays of glee from reporters and citizens on state television. Martyn Williams, who runs the blog North Korea Tech, posted video of a state television anchor announcing the launching.
The Associated Press, which has a bureau in Pyongyang, reported dancing in the streets of the capital, but video of the “festive atmosphere†in the city released by North Korea's official news agency showed only a small number of citizens watching a performance by a dance troupe as loudspeakers hailed the achievement.
State television also broadcast video of technicians watching the launching from the North Korean mission control center outside the capital.
It was not clear if the images of the command center broadcast on state television were recorded during the launching or later on. According to a report from the state news agency, journalists were only allowed to visit the command center and “watch a video†of the mission “after the successful launch.†That suggests that the video of the launching might have been recorded at the command center only after the mission was deemed a success, not as events unfolded.
On the North Korea Tech blog, Mr. Williams also posted an audio recording of North Korea's English-language radio station boasting that the launch was a triumph, and a link to a Web site tracking the path of the satellite in real time.
