No damage has been reported in Japan so far. Morimoto said Japan and the United States is closely working on collecting and analyzing information related to the launch.
After the blastoff, Noda, along with his Cabinet members including Gemba and Morimoto, convened a security council meeting.
The DPRK originally planned to launch a satellite between Dec. 10 and 22 from 7 a.m. to noon and announced on Monday that it extended the launch window to Dec. 29, saying the launch will be readjusted for some reasons.