North Korea launches rocket

The communist country of North Korea has disregarded US's warning of not going ahead with nuclear missile launch. N Korea launched Taepodong-2 u00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0093 a long distance missile u00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0093 at 8 am (IST) today.

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A man looks skyward near the gate to the Araya base where PAC-3 land-to-air missiles, seen in background, are deployed, just after North Korea's rocket launch was reported. A North Korean rocket flew over Japanese airspace, but Tokyo did not fire any interceptors because no debris appeared to fall toward its territory, Japanese officials said.

The communist country of North Korea has disregarded US's warning of not going ahead with nuclear missile launch. N Korea launched Taepodong-2u00a0- a long distance missileu00a0-u00a0at 8 am (IST) today.

The West believes that it would be a big threat to not only their security but international peace too. Uday Bhaskar, Defence Analyst said, "It will increase tension in Asia among the countries. But this is a bigger challenge for the Barack Obama government."

The rocket has apparently crossed over Japan and reached airspace over the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese government said in an email alert.

North Korea had said that it intended to launch an experimental communications satellite, an exercise that critics said would be a disguised ballistic missile test.

The rocket's first stage would fall in the sea 75 Km west of Japan, and the second stage would plunge into the Pacific.

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