N Korea launches space rocket in defiance of sanctions threats

North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Sunday, violating UN resolutions and doubling down against an international community already struggling to punish Pyongyang for a nuclear test last month.

Pyongyang insists its space programme is purely scientific, but most of the world views its rocket launches as disguised ballistic missile tests aimed at developing a weapons delivery system capable of striking the US mainland.

There was no immediate confirmation that the final stage of the satellite-bearing rocket had successfully achieved orbit, and an unconfirmed report from South Korea’s Yonhap news agency suggested the second stage may have malfunctioned.

A US defence official said the launch vehicle “appears to have reached space.” 

North Korean state television said it would make a special announcement at 0930 IST.

Condemnation was swift, with the United States calling the launch “destabilising” and provocative, while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe slammed it as “absolutely intolerable.” 

In New York, diplomats said the UN Security Council would meet in an emergency session.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said the Council should respond quickly with “strong punitive measures” against what she called a grave challenge to global peace and security.

The rocket, carrying an Earth observation satellite, took off at around 9:00 am Pyongyang time, according to the South Korean defence ministry which was monitoring the launch site.

Its pre-orbital flight arc was planned to traverse the Yellow Sea and further south to the Philippine Sea, with both South Korea and Japan threatening to shoot it down if it encroached on their territory.

Multiple UNSC resolutions proscribe North Korea’s development of its ballistic missile programme.