Seoul, South Korea – North Korea launched a satellite into space Sunday, its state media reported, triggering a wave of international condemnation and prompting strong reaction from an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

Though North Korea said the launch was for scientific and “peaceful purposes,” it is being widely viewed by other nations as a front to test a ballistic missile, especially coming on the heels of North Korea’s purported hydrogen bomb test last month.
Pyongyang carried out both acts in defiance of international sanctions.
Members of the Security Council “strongly condemned” the launch and reaffirmed that “a clear threat to international peace and security continues to exist, especially in the context of the nuclear test,” according to a statement read by the Venezuelan ambassador at the United Nations on Sunday.
Security Council members have previously threatened “further significant measures” if there was another North Korean launch, the statement said, and now will “adopt expeditiously a new Security Council resolution with such measures in response to these dangerous and serious violations.”
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the launch is “deeply deplorable” and in violation of Security Council resolutions “despite the united plea of the international community against such an act.”
A state TV newsreader said that the launch had been personally ordered and directed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — who was pictured smiling in official photographs as he oversaw the launch — and that more satellite launches were planned.
A senior U.S. defense official said the rocket headed toward space and, based on its trajectory over the Yellow Sea, “did not pose a threat to the U.S. or our allies.”