ANALYSIS: 'Spoiled child' N. Korea snubs China

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The international community is condemning North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket, with the US and its allies calling it a test of technology that Pyongyang would need to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports. By Ian Williams, NBC NewsBEIJING - There was anger and dismay after North Korea launched a long-range rocket into orbit on Wednesday -- plenty of it in South Korea and Japan. There was also surprise.

North Korea had warned of a possible delay to the launch for "technical reasons," although there was speculation that the real reason was political, that China was applying pressure behind the scenes. After all, Beijing had expressed "deep concern" over the test, and that is pretty strong for China, the North's closest diplomatic and economic ally.

Follow @NBCNewsWorld  So Wednesday's test would seem to be an extraordinary snub to China, when it might be assumed that North Korea's new young leader, Kim Jong Un, would want to get off on a good footing with China's new Communist Party chief, Xi Jinping.

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