U.S. condemns N. Korea's long-range rocket launch SEOUL, South Korea North Korea successfully fired a long-range rocket on Wednesday, defying international warnings as the regime of Kim Jong Un took a big step forward in its quest to develop a nuclear missile. While the rocket launch will enhance the credentials of young leader Kim, who took power after his father Kim Jong Il's death a year ago, it is also likely to bring fresh sanctions against the country and further complicate relations among North Korea, its neighbors, and the West. The United States, South Korea and Japan were quick to condemn the morning launch, which they see as a test of technology needed to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile that could one day threaten the U.S. West Coast. Pyongyang says the launch was merely a peaceful effort to put a weather satellite into orbit. Even China, North Korea's closest ally, expressed "regret" that North Korea went ahead with the launch "in spite of the extensive concerns of international community," said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei. And Russia expressed "deep regret" over the launch, with its Foreign Ministry saying Pyongyang had violated a U.N. Security Council resolution limiting its use of ballistic technology, reports the Reuters news agency. The White House called the launch "a highly provocative act" that was both a threat to regional security and a violation of U.N. resolutions. "North Korea is only further isolating itself by engaging in such provocative acts," U.S. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in the statement. Devoting scarce resources to the development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons has not brought it security and acceptance by the international community -- and never will. The launch's timing came as something of a surprise, after Pyongyang had indicated technical problems might delay it. That it succeeded after several failed attempts was an even greater surprise. "North Korea will now turn its attention to developing bigger rockets with heavier payloads," said Chae Yeon-seok, a rocket expert at South Korea's state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute. Its ultimate aim will be putting a nuclear warhead on the tip. The Unha-3 rocket lifted off just before 10 a.m. local time, and was detected heading south by a South Korean destroyer patrolling the Yellow Sea. Japanese officials said the first rocket stage fell into the Yellow Sea west of the Korean Peninsula; a second stage fell into the Philippine Sea hundreds of miles farther south. The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, later confirmed that North Korea did appear to have put an object into space. "Initial indications are that the missile deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit," NORAD said in a statement. About two hours after the launch, North Korea's state media proclaimed it a success, prompting dancing in the streets of the capital. State media called it a "momentous event" in the country's scientific development. Pyongyang is thought to have a handful of rudimentary nuclear bombs, but experts believe it lacks the ability to make a warhead small enough to mount on a missile that could threaten the United States. The success of this launch "allows the North Koreans to determine what kind of delivery vehicle they could use for a potential nuclear warhead," said retired Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton, a weapons expert and intelligence analyst. The U.N. Security Council will hold closed-door consultations on the launch Wednesday, according to the U.N. Mission for Morocco, which holds the rotating council presidency. Previous launches of three-stage rockets failed, although North Korea claims its 1998 and 2009 launches were successful. A similar North Korean launch in April broke apart shortly after liftoff. David Wright, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said North Korea showed some technical capability getting the rockets stages to work Wednesday. "Politically, however, it will certainly have an impact on the way other countries view North Korea," Wright said. Kim took power after Kim Jong Il died on Dec. 17 last year, and the launch is seen by some as an attempt to commemorate that. It also comes less than a week before presidential elections in South Korea and about a month before President Obama is inaugurated for his second term. North Korean television and radio broadcast word of the launch, and there were vehicles with loudspeakers driving around Pyongyang announcing the news. Customers in the coffee shop at Pyongyang's Koryo Hotel broke into applause during a special television broadcast, while elsewhere people danced and asked each other: "Have you heard the news?" It's really good news. It clearly testifies that our country has the capability to enter space," said Jon Il Gwang, a Pyongyang resident. I think our country should continue launching man-made satellites in the future in order to further advance the position of our country as a science and technology power. Two previous attempts by Seoul in 2009 and 2010 failed. The council condemned the failed North Korean launch in April and ordered seizure of assets of three North Korean state companies linked to financing, exporting and procuring weapons and missile technology.