WASHINGTON (AP) ― The growing availability of news media and cell phones in reclusive North Korea likely forced it to admit within hours that its long-range rocket launch last month was a failure, the U.S. human rights envoy to the country said Thursday.

The envoy, Robert King, was speaking at the launch of a U.S. government-funded study that says North Koreans now have unprecedented access to foreign media, giving them a more positive impression of the outside world.

North Korea allowed foreign journalists unprecedented access to the country to report on centennial of the nation’s founder in mid-April, which included the launch of a satellite into space that violated U.N. sanctions. The rocket, which uses the same technology as ballistic missiles, disintegrated within a minute or two of take-off.

``The media environment in North Korea has changed and is changing, and with the availability of cell phones for internal communication, and greater availability of information internally, you can’t just say, `Let’s play patriotic songs’ so all can tune in,’’ King said.

The study, commissioned by the State Department and conducted by a consulting group, InterMedia, says North Korea still has the world’s most closed media environment _ there’s still no public access to the Internet _ but the government’s ability to control the flow information is receding.