North Korea has fired a long-range rocket, which critics say is a test of banned missile technology.<br />The country had notified UN agencies in advance that it intended to put an earth observation satellite into orbit.<br />Both South Korea's military and a US defence official speaking to Reuters news agency confirmed the launch.<br />It appears that the rocket was fired from a missile base in the north-west of the country and passed over Japan's southern Okinawa islands.<br />Analysts believe Pyongyang is developing nuclear weapons capable of reaching the US mainland.<br />Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the launch "absolutely unacceptable," saying it was a "clear violation" of UN Security Council resolutions.<br />UN Security Council resolutions ban the state from carrying out any nuclear or ballistic missile tests.<br />South Korean analysts had speculated that the North might do the launch ahead of 16 February, the birthday of the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.<br />North Korea has already provoked international criticism this year with a fourth nuclear bomb test on 6 January.<br />The North insists its space programme is purely scientific in nature, but the US, South Korea and even ally China say the rocket launches are aimed at developing an inter-continental ballistic missile capable of striking the US.