IT WAS not necessarily a surprise that North Korea's missile failed on April 13th to put a satellite into orbit; it has fluffed two previous attempts. But it is intriguing that, for the first time, Pyongyang appears to be admitting it. Is this its own version of perestroika? Or just an unavoidable piece of damage control? Probably the latter. The regime over-confidently broke with precedent to invite in the world's TV cameras to film what was supposed to be the centerpiece of its centenary celebrations for its late founder, Kim Il Sung. Instead, his insecure grandson, Kim Jong Un, suddenly finds himself in the midst of a huge public-relations disaster, with unruly TV commentators all over the place. Perhaps the regime realised that if it continued to deny the obvious, it would only stoke more international mockery. And as Peter Beck of the Asia Foundation says, at home there was anyway a risk that “anyone with a $5 Chinese shortwave radio could pick up the BBC and find out what's going on in the world.” It hasn't yet given an explanation for why the rocket failed. Pyongyang could still blame it on foreign interference, or use it as an excuse to punish enemies of the revolution, perhaps including some poor rocket scientists.

On balance, the missile debacle looks laughable, but isn't. It appears likely to increase the regime's international isolation, which tends to make it more threatening. It is also likely to increase the young Mr Kim's credibility gap at home, which may make him more repressive.

Internationally, having launched the missile, North Korea faces possible rebuke, if not further sanctions, after a proposed meeting of the UN Security Council on April 13th. Before it took place, the Group of Eight, which rejects Pyongyang's claim that it was merely an innocuous satellite launch, said it represented a “serious violation” of a UN ban on ballistic-missile tests by the North. Meanwhile, the United States is set to suspend a food-aid deal that was agreed with the North on February 29th. Some experts even suggest America should freeze North Korean bank accounts abroad, as it did in Macau in 2005. That really annoyed the Kim family.

The last time North Korea sought to launch a satellite in 2009, it never admitted that it had failed. Shortly afterwards, however, it carried out a nuclear-weapons test. This week South Korean intelligence reported activity near another potential underground blast spot, which some experts reckon could suggest is it aiming to test another bomb—possibly one using enriched uranium.

The fact that today's rocket failed may make it more likely that North Korea tries to pull off another centenary stunt—possibly an atomic one—in the near future, both to reassure the hungry folks at home that it is a “great and prosperous nation”, and to remind everyone else that its rulers remain inherently evil. Don't expect the world's media to be invited to that party piece, however.