North Korea's long-range rocket launch

Scientists and technicians at the General Satellite Control and Command Center on the outskirts of Pyongyang watch the launch of the Unha-3 rocket from a launch site on the west coast, in the village of Tongchang-ri, about 35 miles from the Chinese border city of Dandong, North Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. North Korea successfully fired the 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.

Scientists and technicians work on their computers to control the launch of North Korea's Unha-3 rocket at the General Satellite Control and Command Center on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, in Pyongyang, North Korea.

Various images shown on screens at the General Satellite Control and Command Center show the launch of North Korea's Unha-3 rocket on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, in Pyongyang, North Korea.

In this monitor screen image taken and released by the Korean Central News Agency and distributed in Tokyo by the Korea News Service, the Unha-3 rocket lifts off from a launch site on the west coast, in the village of Tongchang-ri, about 35 miles from the Chinese border city of Dandong, North Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012.

North Korean staff at the Three Revolution Exhibition Hall chat with one another inside the Satellite Hall after hearing the news of a rocket launch earlier on the day in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Dec. 12, 2012. North Korea's missile program is a point of national pride, with state TV regularly broadcasting past liftoffs set to rousing military anthems, but Pyongyang provides precious few details about its program's inner workings, leaving outside analysts to squeeze details from satellite photos and comparisons with other countries' missiles.

North Korean youths in traditional Korean outfit play instruments in front of the Pyongyang Grand Theatre in Pyongyang, North Korea, to celebrate a rocket launch on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012.

North Koreans toast with beer after hearing the news of a rocket launch at the newly-built Mansukyo Restaurant Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012 in Pyongyang, North Korea.

north korea, rocket, south korea, launch — AP Photo/Lee Jin-man

A TV screen showing a North Korean TV anchorwoman announcing the success of a rocket launch, at an electronic shop in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012.

A man watches a TV screen broadcasting news on North Korea's rocket launch, at a railway station in Seoul on December 12, 2012.

South Korean conservative protesters participate in an anti-North Korea rally reacting to North Korea launching the long-range missile on December 12, 2012, in Seoul, South Korea.

South Korean conservative protesters burn a mockup of a North Korean missile and portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un during an anti-North Korea rally demonstrating against North Korea having launched a long-range missile on December 12, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea.

A South Korean conservative protester sits as his head is shaved during an anti-North Korea rally reacting to North Korea having launched a long-range missile on December 12, 2012, in Seoul, South Korea.

South Korean conservative activists shout slogans beside an effigy (C) of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un during a protest denouncing North Korea's rocket launch, in Seoul on December 12, 2012. North Korea's rocket launch is evidence of a new ballistic missile capability that sharply raises the stakes over Pyongyang's nuclear program and poses a direct threat to the United States, analysts say.

China, north korea — MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

A Chinese paramilitary officer stands guard in the snow outside the North Korean Embassy in Beijing on December 12, 2012. North Korea successfully launched a long-range rocket on December 12, in defiance of UN sanctions threats over what Pyongyang's critics have condemned as a disguised ballistic missile test.

Japan Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto — YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images

Japan's Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto (C) is surrounded by reporters upon his arrival at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo to attend a meeting of the Security Council on December 12, 2012. Japan did not try to shoot down a North Korean rocket as it passed over its southern island chain of Okinawa, the government said on December 12, strongly condemning the launch.

japan, patriot missiles — YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images

Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force (SDF) Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile launchers sit outside the Defence Ministry in Tokyo on December 12, 2012.

Policemen extinguish a fire after South Korean conservative activists tried to burn a mock North Korean missile during a protest denouncing North Korea's rocket launch, in Seoul on December 12, 2012.

Travellers watch a TV screen broadcasting news about North Korea's rocket launch, at a railway station in Seoul on December 12, 2012.

A poster with slogan which reads "Advance toward the final victory " in Pyongyang, North Korea Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012.