North Korea rocket 'launches, breaks apart'North Korea has launched a long-range rocket but it appears to have broken apart, according to reports.
US officials told CNN the rocket had launched but said the rocket then broke into pieces.
According to projected trajectories captured by an international news crew the rocket was predicted to fly over parts of Australia.
"North Korea launched a long-range rocket at 07:39 am (2239 GMT Thursday)," a South Korean defence ministry spokesman told AFP.
"US and South Korean intelligence authorities are seeking to determine whether it was a successful launch," he said.
Yonhap news agency also quoted a government source as saying that South Korea was tracking the rocket's trajectory.
Japananese authorities told AFP that the North Korean 'flying object' had fallen into the ocean.
Immediately after the launch, South Korea issued an order urging residents near the inter-Korean border to seek shelter to protect themselves from any debris that might fall from the rocket, Yonhap said.
North Korea has previously said the rocket will place a satellite in orbit for peaceful research purposes, but Western critics see the launch as a thinly veiled ballistic missile test, banned by United Nations resolutions.
The Unha-3 rocket, mounted with an Earth observation satellite, was launched as part of celebrations in the country in the lead up to Sunday, the 100th anniversary of the late President Kim Il Sung's birth.
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