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," National Security Advisor Susan Rice said.

Rice also said in a statement that the North's missile and nuclear weapons programs "represent serious threats to our interests, including the security of some of our closest allies, and undermine peace and security in the broader region."

"We condemn today's launch and North Korea's determination to prioritize its missile and nuclear weapons programs over the well-being of its people, whose struggles only intensify with North Korea's diversion of scarce resources to such destabilizing activities," she said.

"The United States is fully committed to the security of our allies in the region, and we will take all necessary steps to defend ourselves and our allies and respond to North Korean provocations. We call upon the international community to stand together and demonstrate to North Korea that its reckless actions must have serious consequences," Rice said.

The North fired the rocket from its northwest Dongchang-ri launch site at 9:30 a.m. (Korean time), one month after its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6, sending the already-high tensions on the Korean Peninsula soaring higher.(Yonhap)