BREAKING: NORTH KOREA LAUNCHES ROCKET

THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY.

Reports have confirmed that North Korea went as planned and launched its rocket that is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The ramifications of such a launch are not yet known, but the international community, the US Military, South Koreans, and the Asian region are on high alert.

According to Reuters:

A spokesman for the Defence Ministry in Seoul told reporters at a briefing that the launch at taken place at 0739 local time (11.39 p.m. British Time) and that South Korea and the United States were checking whether it had been a success.

The launch has drawn international criticism and threats to shoot the rocket down as well as sabotaged a food aid deal with the United States.

The Unha-3 rocket took off from a new launch site on the west coast of North Korea, near the Chinese border, and if successful will enhance Pyongyang's ability to build an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, critics say.

The three-stage rocket's flight path will take it over the sea between the Korean peninsula and China, where the first stage is due to splash down. A second stage is due to land in waters off the Philippines.

 For now it appears that the rocket's trajectory is being tracked:

North Korea defiantly fired off a long-range rocket Friday, an official said, in a move sure to spark strong international condemnations and escalate regional tensions.

"We're now tracking the flight path," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The North has said it will launch its Unha-3 rocket between April 12-16 to put what it claims is a satellite into orbit to mark the 100th birthday of Kim Il-sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un.

But South Korea, the United States and other regional powers have urged Pyongyang to call off the launch, seeing it as a pretext to disguise a long-range missile test banned under a U.N. Security Council resolution.

UPDATE:

US Officials tell CNN that the rocket has broken apart:

Defying warnings from the international community, North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Friday, but it appears to have broken apart shortly afterward, U.S. officials said.

UPDATE:

Hillary Clinton warns of UN Intervention:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned North Korea Thursday that the United Nations Security Council will take further action if Pyongyang goes ahead with a rocket launch, which many believe is a ballistic missile test.

Speaking in Washington after meeting with her counterparts from the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations, Clinton said North Korea can choose between isolation and closer ties with the international community.

"Pyongyang has a clear choice. It can pursue peace and reap the benefits of closer ties with the international community, including the United States. Or it can continue to face pressure and isolation. If Pyongyang goes forward, we will all be back in the Security Council to take further action. And it is regrettable because, as you know, we had worked through an agreement that would have benefited the North Korean people with the provision of food aid. But in the current atmosphere, we would not be able to go forward with that, and other actions that other countries had been considering would also be on hold," she said.