Analysis: Sudden North Korean turn risks US ties  MATTHEW
PENNINGTON Associated Press Published:  WASHINGTON (AP) -- North
Korea's planned long-range rocket launch threatens to wreck its
recent food-for-nuclear concessions deal with the United States
and dim hopes for better relations under new leader Kim Jong Un.
The North's announcement Friday marked a sharp and sudden turn
17 days after the two countries offered unexpected signs of
optimism that three years of tensions were easing. Such a launch
would violate a U.N. ban.  "It's a real slap in the face," said
Victor Cha, a White House director for Asia policy under
President George W. Bush. "It undercuts a lot of theories that
the young leadership might be different. If anything, it shows
that it's very much the same as before, only more
unpredictable."  It is an embarrassment in an election year for
President Barack Obama, who has been labeled by Republican
presidential candidates as naive in his foreign policy.
Republican lawmakers have accused his admin