After Pyongyang carried out a nuclear test in 2006, the UN Security Council had adopted a resolution that imposed sanctions on military goods and luxury products to North Korea and warned the Communist state against carrying out any further atomic or ballistic missile tests.
Without mentioning the rocket launch, the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Sunday's test showed that the Communist state's "peaceful space development plan" had the support of "political parties and groups of many countries".
China, the closest ally of North Korea, said that it has taken note of the rocket launch by Pyongyang. "We have taken notice of the launching activity by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Sunday morning," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Jiang Yu said.
Jiang said Beijing has also taken note of responses from relevant parties.
Image: North Koreans walk in front of a mural of late Korean leader Kim Il-Sung at the border to China near the North Korean city of Hyesan.
Photograph: Reinhard Krause/Reuters
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