North Korea launches 'missile' disguised as rocket: South Korean military
North Korea has successfully launched a satellite into out space and there are plans to launch more, state-run media reports.
The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea fired the rocket from the Dongchang-ri missile base in the country's northwest Sunday morning, with international condemnation of the launch following immediately.
US Secretary of State John Kerry slammed the launch, calling it "provocative" while South Korea called it "destabilising".
"This is the second time in just over a month that the DPRK has chosen to conduct a major provocation, threatening not only the security of the Korean peninsula, but that of the region and the United States as well," Secretary Kerry said in a statement.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye said the firing was a "challenge to world peace," she said, adding her countries officials "don't know when North Korea is going to do another provocative action, so our government needs to come up with a plan to protect the safety of our people".
China has also expressed its regret over the launch, AFP reports.
The launch comes after the North claimed it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb in January. While many doubt the validity of the H-bomb test, North Korea is a nuclear power and thought to have at least a dozen nuclear warheads in its arsenal.
The rocket is said to be carrying an observation satellite, but international observers believe the Unha rocket is based on the Taepodong long-range ballistic missile.
That would give it a range of 9,000 kilometres, putting Australia, the west coast of the US and much of Western Europe in range of a warhead, CNN reports.
UN sanctions prohibit North Korea from the use of ballistic missile technology, and the launch will mark a further serious violation of Security Council resolutions, following the North's nuclear test last month.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency earlier cited a Seoul defence official as saying the rocket had been erected on the launch pad at the North's Sohae satellite launch centre, and fully fuelled.
The South Korean military has been placed on alert and, together with Japan, has vowed to shoot down the rocket if it strays over its territory.
The launch comes less than 10 days before the February 16 birthday of late leader Kim Jong-Il, the father of current leader Kim Jong-Un.
North Korea often times such events to coincide with important political anniversaries.
Despite Pyongyang's bellicose claims to the contrary, the North is still seen as being years away from developing a credible ICBM.
Orbital rocket launches, experts say, are relatively straightforward compared to the challenge of mastering the re-entry technology required to deliver a payload as far away as the United States.
The US-led campaign to impose harsh new sanctions on North Korea over its latest nuclear test have faced opposition from the North's main diplomatic protector, China.
On Friday, both US President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-Hye spoke by phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, urging him to back punitive measures against Pyongyang.
While infuriated by North Korea's refusal to curb its nuclear ambitions, China's overriding concern is avoiding a collapse of the regime in Pyongyang and the possibility of a US-allied unified Korea on its border.
News break – February 7
