A South Korean man watches a TV news program with a file footage about North Korea's rocket launch at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016. Photo:
AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon

(VOVworld) – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon denounced North Korea’s satellite launch, calling it “provocative actions”. Ban “reaffirms his commitment to working with all sides in reducing tensions and achieving the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”. The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting later on Sunday in New York over the launch, following a request by South Korea, Japan and the US.

South Korean President Park ­Geun-hye condemned the launch, calling it “an unforgivable act of provocation”. She urged the UN Security Council to quickly impose stronger sanctions on North Korea. Earlier, the US said that it will do everything necessary to protect its national safety and that of its allies.

China has expressed regret at Pyongyang's rocket launch while Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga says Japan has sent a strong protest to North Korea through their respective embassies in Beijing following North Korea's rocket launch. He also said that Japan is now considering its own sanctions against Pyongyang.