North Korea Launches

With two Americans still being held hostage, reports that Iran is actually helping north Korea, our enemies re-arming and on the march across the globe, of course they launched the missile. This weapon can reach the United States, but I am sure a little hope and change is all we need. As for the orders to stay out, I really don't get it. The launch is clearly a violation of international law and why should the US telegraph anything to North Korea, even if we are going to do nothing why say it?
For the President's Response.

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea appeared to launch a rocket on Sunday, the Japanese government said, defying calls from world leaders to scrap a plan that has caused international alarm.

It was not immediately clear if the launch had been successful, or if it was a long-range version of the rocket.The rocket is supposed to fly over Japan, dropping boosters to its west and east on a path that runs southwest of Hawaii.

The United States, South Korea and Japan say the plan is actually the test of a Taepodong-2 missile, which is designed to carry a warhead as far as Alaska.

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea has launched a long-range rocket, a South Korean official confirmed to CNN on Sunday.

The payload of the rocket remains unclear. North Korea has said the rocket was to carry a satellite into space, but the United States, South Korea and other nations fear it could be a missile with a warhead attached.

Update:

(CNN) -- American officials condemned the North Korean launch of a long-range rocket Sunday, with President Obama calling it a "provocative act."

The rocket, a Taepodong 2, was launched at around 11:30 a.m. local time Sunday (2:30 a.m. GMT) at a base in the northeastern part of the country. Officials in Washington, D.C., confirmed early Sunday that the rocket cleared Japan.Preliminary data show that two objects, likely boosters from the rocket, apparently fell around Japan -- one in the Sea of Japan and one in the Pacific Ocean.

In a statement, Obama said the launch was "a clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, which expressly prohibits North Korea from conducting ballistic missile-related activities of any kind."

No Surprise in the UN Reaction:

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- An emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council concluded Sunday without an official reaction to North Korea ignoring repeated international warnings and launching a long-range rocket, the council president told reporters.