Defying the United States and its other critics abroad, North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Wednesday, South Korean and Japanese sources reported.
Japan's Kyodo News Service said the launch was reported by government officials in Seoul and Tokyo. The South Korean TV channel said North Korea fired its Unha rocket from its Sohae Satellite Launch Station on the secretive country's west coast.
A spokesman at South Korea's defense ministry confirmed to NBC News that the launch had taken place but declined to provide any further details. Reuters reported that South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak had called an emergency security meeting in response to news of the launch.
North Korea says the rocket launch is aimed purely at putting its Kwangmyongsong weather satellite into orbit. But critics fear that the mission's true purpose is to test the technologies for sending a nuclear warhead to targets as far away as the U.S. West Coast.
This month, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said "a North Korean 'satellite' launch would be a highly provocative act that threatens peace and security in the region." Nuland said such a launch would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Wednesday's launch follows up on an attempt in April that ended in failure just minutes after liftoff.
This report includes information from Reuters.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50167891/ns/technology_and_science-space/
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