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UN Security Council to meet over DPRK's rocket launchUNITED NATIONS, Dec 12, 2012 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The UN Security Council will meet on Wednesday after a rocket launch announced by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The council meeting is expected to kick off at around 11:00 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) at the request of Japan, diplomats told Xinhua. South Korea, along with the United States and Japan, has called for a meeting of the Security Council in response to Pyongyang's launch of a long-range rocket, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing a senior official in Seoul. Earlier on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored Pyongyang's launch, saying the move is "a clear violation of (a UN) Security Council resolution" adopted in 2009. "The secretary-general deplores the rocket launch announced by the DPRK," said a statement issued here by Ban's spokesman. "It is all the more regrettable because it defies the unified and strong call from the international community." The DPRK's official KCNA news agency on Wednesday confirmed that the country launched and orbited an earth observation satellite. According to the KCNA, a Unha-3 rocket carrying the second version of the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite blasted off from the Sohae Space Center in Cholsan County, North Phyongan Province, at 9:49 a.m. local time (0049 GMT). The satellite, said the KCNA, entered its preset orbit 9 minutes and 27 seconds after the lift-off, and started going round the polar orbit. |