Seoul: Defying US warnings and threats of international sanctions, North Korea has gone ahead with its plan of launching a long-range rocket, which the international community fears might be a disguised test for a long-range ballistic missile.
North Korea claims it has launched the long-range rocket to install a communications satellite. The rocket was launched around 8 o'clock on Sunday morning and passed over Japan. It appears that wreckage from the rocket fell in the Pacific Ocean.
The United States, South Korea and Japan say the launch is actually the test of a ballistic missile, which is designed to carry a warhead as far as Alaska so if indeed it's a missile test, then it poses a serious threat to the United States.
The US government has called it a provocative act implying the possibility of international sanctions against North Korea.
After a stern warning by President Obama couple of days back, the US state department reacting to the launch has said, "We look on this as a provocative act."
This comes amidst fears that such a test could be a first step toward putting a nuclear warhead on a missile capable of reaching Alaska and beyond.