12 December 2012 Last updated at 03:39 GMT
North Korea defies warnings to launch rocket
North Korea's rocket launch was keenly watched in the South
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Inside North Korea
North Korea says it has successfully launched its rocket in defiance of international warnings.
Reports suggest the rocket, launched at 09:49 local time (00:49 GMT), followed its planned trajectory, with stages falling in expected areas. North Korea says a satellite has been put in orbit.
North Korea's neighbours and the US have called the launch a cover for long-range missile development.
South Korea condemned it, while Tokyo urged the UN Security Council to meet.
The launch comes a week ahead of the South Korean presidential election and roughly a year after the death of leader Kim Jong-il, on 17 December 2011.
'Extremely regrettable'
The three-stage rocket was launched from a site on North Korea's west coast.
"The launch of the second version of our Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite from the Sohae Space Centre... on December 12 was successful," state news agency KCNA said. "The satellite has entered the orbit as planned."
The rocket had been scheduled to pass between the Korean peninsula and China, with a second stage coming down off the Philippines.
A Japanese soldier runs toward a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor on southern Japanese island of Ishigaki on 12 December 2012 Japan said the rocket passed over its territory, but it did not shoot it down
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that the first stage of the rocket had come down in the Yellow Sea. Japan said more debris landed east of the Philippines.
The Japanese government, which put its armed forces on alert ahead of the launch, said the rocket had passed over parts of Okinawa prefecture, south of the Japanese mainland.
"The missile that North Korea calls a satellite passed over Okinawa around 10:01. We launched no interception," a government statement quoted by AFP news agency said.
Japan had threatened to shoot down any debris which infringed on its territory, deploying naval vessels and land-based missile interceptors.
Its top government spokesman called the launch "extremely regrettable" and something that Japan "cannot tolerate".
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, meanwhile, called an emergency meeting of his top advisors and his foreign minister said the government strongly condemned the launch.
A spokesman for Seoul's defence ministry said assessment was needed to determine whether the launch had indeed been a success.
"There are many factors to determine whether it was successful or not ... we need more extensive analysis. We need more consultation with the United States since our own capability is limited," Kim Min-seok told journalists.
The US state department said it had "noted" the launch and would comment later.
April failure
Seoul, Washington and other nations had urged North Korea not to go ahead with the launch, warning that it would constitute a test of long-range missile technology banned under UN resolutions.
The US and its allies say the rocket launches represent banned missile tests because the basic technology is the same.
North Korea is believed to be working on the development of a long-range missile capable of reaching the west coast of the US mainland.
It has not previously successfully launched a three-stage rocket. Its most recent test, in April 2012, ended in failure, when the rocket flew for only a few minutes before exploding and crashing into the sea west of the Korean peninsula.
The closed communist nation has also carried out two nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009. International talks on ending its nuclear ambitions have been stalled for several years.
