North Korea’s successful launch of a long-range rocket is expected to strengthen the power base of Kim Jong-un one year after the young leader inherited the world’s only communist dynasty.

The unanticipated launch came early Wednesday, flouting international warnings against what is suspected to be cover for an intercontinental ballistic missile test. The North’s official news agency said its “satellite has entered the planned orbit.”

It marks the second launch attempt under the Swiss-educated, 29-year-old leader and the first anniversary of the death of his father, Kim Jong-il. Pyongyang’s April liftoff, timed to coincide with the centenary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the country’s founder and Jong-un’s grandfather, ended in failure and earned it international condemnation. 

The latest move was to revere the late autocrat’s call to build a “strong, prosperous and great nation” by accomplishing the regime’s nuclear ambitions, analysts say.

“It was designed to show something to the people as the first anniversary of Kim’s death draws near,” said Chin Hee-gwan, a unification studies professor at Inje University in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province.

“Given that the young Kim has achieved little noteworthy results on his own, the successful liftoff will be a crucial feature in the regime’s campaign for the ‘strong, prosperous and great nation.’”

Experts project the North has enough plutonium for about half a dozen fission bombs. The country is also believed to be enriching uranium for atomic weapons, cashing in on its vast uranium reserves.

Externally, the launch will likely freeze the North’s already sour relations with the South and the U.S. With less than a week remaining before the presidential election, the next administration at Cheong Wa Dae will face challenges in crafting its approach to the unruly neighbor.

Seoul, Washington, Tokyo and London quickly denounced the launch, calling it a breach of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the North from any nuclear or missile development. China and Russia, Pyongyang’s primary backers, also expressed “regret.”

“For the North, what other countries think may not mean much relative to domestic objectives. In other words, the regime is always willing to compromise foreign relations in order to legitimize its rule and nail down state projects,” a North Korea expert said, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

He also attributed the earlier-than-expected launch to the regime’s desire to be punctual on its delivery date despite detected technical problems and frosty weather. Kim Jong-il died on Dec. 17, 2011.

The North announced Monday it would extend the launch window by a week from between Dec. 10-22, citing a “technical deficiency in the first-stage control engine module of the rocket.” It soon spawned speculation that the country may delay or scrap the plan under international pressure.

The newest missile test added a twist to the youthful leader’s perceived drive to curb poverty and prop up the people’s livelihoods. His major policy roadmap unveiled in August envisages a “prosperous country.”

Since taking power, Kim has been challenging the military’s iron grip, exposing the reclusive family to the public and retuning the state’s economic strategy.

He has also placed economic specialists in powerful positions, while sacking or demoting hardliners who spearheaded his father’s “military-first” policy.

Critics have called for fewer words and more action, however. The North on the other hand has codified its atomic-armed status and beefed up nuclear activity despite rampant hunger across the country.

“As the long-range rocket originates from his father’s era, today’s success means that the young Kim has solved a task apart from his own projects and style,” Chin of Inje University added.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)