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North Korea 'has launched rocket' N Korea rocket launch condemned
(30 minutes later)
North Korea has launched a rocket, despite international appeals not to go ahead. North Korea has defied international warnings and gone ahead with a controversial rocket launch.
The rocket blasted off from the Musudan-ri launch site in the northeast of the country at 0230 GMT. It passed over Japan to the Pacific, Tokyo said. The rocket blasted off from the Musudan-ri launch site in the northeast of the country at 0230 GMT.
North Korea says it is sending a satellite into orbit, but its neighbours suspect the launch is a cover for a long-range missile test. North Korea says it is sending a satellite into orbit, but its neighbours suspect the launch could be a cover for a long-range missile test.
Japan, South Korea and the US condemned the launch as a provocative act. Japan, South Korea and the US strongly condemned the launch. Tokyo requested a meeting of the UN Security Council.
America would take "appropriate steps to let North Korea know that it cannot threaten the safety and security of other countries with impunity", a US state department spokesman said. The US called North Korea's launch a "provocative act". name="here"> class="bodl" href="#there"> See satellite images of North Korea's launch pad
Japan says it is seeking an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. America would take "appropriate steps to let North Korea know that it cannot threaten the safety and security of other countries with impunity", a US State Department Spokesman said.
Japan called the move "extremely regrettable", while South Korea said it constituted a clear breach of a United Nations resolution.
No interceptNo intercept
The rocket blasted off just before midday North Korean time, within a pre-announced launch window. North Korea announced several weeks ago that it planned to send what it called an "experimental communications satellite" into space.
It flew over Japan towards the Pacific, with two booster stages dropping into the ocean to the east and west of Japan. Its rocket blasted off just before midday local time, within a pre-announced launch window.
Japan said it did not try to intercept the rocket, as it had indicated it would if its territory was threatened. class="" href="/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2564241.stm"> North Korea's missile programme class="" href="/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7984016.stm"> Reaction to North Korea launch
It flew over Japan towards the Pacific, with two booster stages dropping into the ocean to the east and west of Japan, Tokyo said.
Japan said it did not try to intercept the rocket. It had indicated it would do so if the rocket threatened its territory, and had deployed ships equipped with interceptor technology.
North Korea says that the launch is part of what it calls peaceful space development.North Korea says that the launch is part of what it calls peaceful space development.
An unidentified South Korean official told Yonhap news agency that the rocket did appear to be carrying a satellite. It is not clear whether a satellite was successfully put into space.An unidentified South Korean official told Yonhap news agency that the rocket did appear to be carrying a satellite. It is not clear whether a satellite was successfully put into space.
But Pyongyang's neighbours believe the real aim of the launch was to test long-range missile technology for the Taepodong-2 weapon. But Pyongyang's neighbours believe the real aim of the launch was to test long-range missile technology.
They say the launch violates United Nations resolutions. They suspect North Korea of testing its Taepodong-2 missile, which could put parts of the US within the communist nation's military reach.
North Korea first tested a Taepodong-2 in July 2006. Three months later, it carried out a nuclear test.
International talks involving the US, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China on an aid-for-nuclear disarmament deal are currently stalled.
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