U.S. lawmakers called for stronger sanctions on North Korea after the communist nation flouted international warnings and launched a banned long-range rocket just a month after its fourth nuclear test."Kim Jong-un has taken yet another belligerent step threatening the interests of the United States and our allies," Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement."As North Korea works to build a nuclear arsenal capable of hitting the United States, it is

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Sunday he is considering a visit to New York for consultations on a U.N. resolution to punish North Korea for its back-to-back provocations.The North's long-range rocket launch is expected to "facilitate" ongoing discussions at the U.N. Security Council on adopting the resolution, he said.The 15-member council has been working to impose additional sanctions on Pyongyang for its Jan. 6 nuclear test.Yun said he plans to meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerr

North Korea on Sunday defied international warnings and launched a long-range rocket that the United Nations and others call a cover for a banned test of ballistic missile technology. The rocket was fired from North Korea's west coast and its path was tracked separately by the United States, Japan and South Korea; no damage from debris was reported. At an emergency national security council meeting in Seoul, the country's president called the firing an ``intolerable provocation.'' North Korea, w

China on Sunday "expressed regret" over North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket, after Pyongyang said it successfully put a satellite into orbit."With regards to the DPRK's insistence on implementing a launch of missile technology in the face of international opposition, China expresses regret," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying was quoted as saying on the ministry's website.(AFP)

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called North Korea's long-range rocket launch "deeply deplorable" and urged the communist nation to halt its provocative actions."It is deeply deplorable that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has conducted a launch using ballistic missile technology in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions on 6 Feb. 2016 despite the united plea of the international community against such an act," Ban's office said in a statement."The secretary-gener

The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Sunday in New York over North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket, diplomats said.The closed-door talks were requested by South Korea as well as council members Japan and the United States, which have both denounced the launch as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.They will begin at 11:00 am (1600 GMT).Tokyo and Washington called the consultations over the launch of a "so-called 'satellite' by North Korea in violati

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon denounced Saturday North Korea's "provocative actions" in launching a long-range rocket, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.Ban "reaffirms his commitment to working with all sides in reducing tensions and achieving the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," a statement read. (AFP)

The Latest on North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket (all times local):12:40 p.m. In a special announcement read on state-run North Korean TV, the announcer says the country has put a satellite into orbit on a successful rocket launch.The announcer says North Korea will launch more satellites. The North's special announcement says the launch was ordered by leader Kim Jong Un. 12:05 p.m. Republican presidential candidates in the U.S. are speaking up about North Korea's rocket launch on Sunda

North Korea seems to have succeeded in putting what its claims to be a satellite into orbit, a military official said Sunday."It's presumed that the projectile has entered into orbit," the official said, indicating that the North's long-range rocket launch might be successful.He added, however, additional analysis is needed to confirm whether it is normally operating in orbit.Earlier in the day, the North fired the rocket from its northwest Dongchang-ri launch site in defiance of United Nations

Rescuers on Sunday found signs of life within the remains of a high-rise residential building that collapsed in a powerful, shallow earthquake in southern Taiwan that killed at least 18 people and injured hundreds. The emergency center in Tainan, the worst-hit city, estimated that 132 people were still missing more than 24 hours after the magnitude-6.4 quake struck at dawn Saturday.  (Yonhap)Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te said in TV interviews from the site of the building collapse that life detectin

South Korean Jang Ha-na claimed her maiden LPGA Tour victory in Florida on Saturday, becoming the second straight player from the country to win on the world's largest female tour. (Yonhap)Jang won the weather-interrupted Coates Golf Championship in Ocala, Florida, at 11-under 277, edging out Brooke Henderson of Canada by two strokes. Jang, forced to play 30 holes on Saturday after rain had disrupted the schedule, survived another wet day with an even 72 over her final 18 holes for a wire-to-wir

The U.S. Strategic Command said Saturday it detected North Korea's missile launch at 9:29 a.m. Korean time. "U.S. Strategic Command systems detected and tracked what we assess was a North Korean missile launch into space at 6:29 p.m.CST (central standard time)," the command said in a statement. "The missile was tracked on a southerly launch over the Yellow Sea."The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) "determined that at no time was the missile a threat to North America," the stateme

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on Sunday urged a tough UN response to North Korea's long-range rocket launch that came barely a month after its fourth nuclear test."The UN Security Council should take strong punitive measures quickly," Park said in televised address following the morning launch.(AFP)

China's official Xinhua News Agency urged "all relevant parties" to exercise "restraint" on Sunday as North Korea launched a long-range rocket in defiance of U.N. resolutions amid international condemnations over its latest nuclear test. There was no immediate reaction from China's foreign ministry about the North's rocket launch, but commentary by the Chinese news agency said, "The launch marks a negative development of the situation on the Korean Peninsula." "Sanctions are definitely not the a

Park says North Korea has committed unacceptable provocation, adding, South Korea, US should take all necessary measures responding to N. Korea's missile launch.North Korea said Sunday it will make a special announcement at midday (Pyongyang Time) following its launch of a long-range rocket earlier in the day.North Korea said it will deliver a "special and important" announcement at noon, North Korea's state-run radio and TV stations reported without elaborating.Earlier in the day, the North lau

The United States on Saturday denounced North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket as "destabilizing and provocative."The unpredictable hermit state made good on its threat to launch a satellite-bearing rocket, an operation widely seen as a covert ballistic missile test despite Pyongyang's insistence that it is part of a purely scientific program.A US defense official said the launch vehicle "appears to have reached space."Pyongyang had already detonated what it claimed was a powerful thermonuc

The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Sunday in New York over North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket, diplomats said.The closed-door talks were requested by South Korea as well as council members Japan and the United States, which have both denounced the launch as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.(AFP)

The White House condemned North Korea's long-range rocket launch as a "flagrant violation" of U.N.Security Council resolutions, reaffirming its commitment to the defense of its allies and calling for serious consequences to the communist nation."North Korea's launch using ballistic missile technology, following so closely after its Jan. 6 nuclear test, represents yet another destabilizing and provocative action and is a flagrant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions,"

The following is a chronology of major events leading to North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket on Sunday.-- August 31, 1998: North Korea fires its first ballistic missile, the Unha-1 rocket, also known as the Taepodong-1 missile, from the launch site of Musudan-ri in North Hamgyong Province.-- July 4, 2006: North Korea fires the more advanced Taepodong-2 missile at the Musudan-ri launch site.-- April 5, 2009: North Korea launches the Unha-2 rocket at the Musudan-ri launch site with the att

South Korea's top financial regulator will convene an emergency meeting to intensify monitoring of the local financial market following North Korea's long-range missile launch, an official said Sunday.In the meeting scheduled to take place at 11:00 a.m., the Financial Services Commission (FSC) will check the impact of the rocket launch on global and local markets and discuss ways to deal with possible risks.The South Korean financial market has been struggling with rising uncertainties at home a