The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Sunday in New York over North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket, diplomats said.

The closed-door talks were requested by South Korea as well as council members Japan and the United States, which have both denounced the launch as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

They will begin at 11:00 am (1600 GMT).

Tokyo and Washington called the consultations over the launch of a "so-called 'satellite' by North Korea in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions," in a letter to the Venezuela mission, which currently holds the council presidency.

The resolutions bar Pyongyang from any ballistic missile or nuclear activity.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon condemned the launch as "deeply deplorable."

Ban "reiterates his call on the DPRK to halt its provocative actions and return to compliance with its international obligations," a spokesman said, referring to North Korea.

"He reaffirms his commitment to working with all sides in reducing tensions and achieving the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

The unpredictable hermit state made good on its threat to launch a satellite-bearing rocket, despite US and South Korean warnings, the South Korean military confirmed.

The launch took place as the international community was still struggling to reach consensus on how to respond to Pyongyang's detonation of what it claimed was a powerful thermonuclear bomb on January 6.

The White House and its allies want to respond with a UN resolution that would slap more sanctions on the North.

But they must first win the backing of China, which has veto power in the Council, and which in the past has shielded its neighbor and close ally.

The North is already subject to numerous UN sanctions over previous rocket launches and three nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

US denounces 'destabilizing, provocative' N. Korea rocket launch
Washington (AFP) Feb 7, 2016 - The United States on Saturday denounced North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket as "destabilizing and provocative."

The unpredictable hermit state made good on its threat to launch a satellite-bearing rocket, an operation widely seen as a covert ballistic missile test despite Pyongyang's insistence that it is part of a purely scientific program.

A US defense official said the launch vehicle "appears to have reached space."

Pyongyang had already detonated what it claimed was a powerful thermonuclear bomb on January 6.

The rocket launch "represents yet another destabilizing and provocative action and is a flagrant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions," White House National Security Advisor Susan Rice said in a statement.

"North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programs represent serious threats to our interests -- including the security of some of our closest allies -- and undermine peace and security in the broader region."

On Friday, the US and South Korean presidents spoke with their Chinese counterpart in separate telephone calls to demand punitive measures against Beijing's close ally.

"We will continue to work with our partners and members of the UN Security Council on significant measures to hold the DPRK to account," US Secretary of State John Kerry said.

"Now is the time to do so in a firm and united way, with measures that make clear the determination of the international community to address the pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities by the DPRK and this most recent destabilizing and unacceptable challenge to our common peace and security."

- 'All necessary steps' -

The White House and its allies want to respond with a UN resolution that would slap more sanctions on the North.

But they must first win the backing of UN veto power China, which has in the past shielded its neighbor.

"We condemn today's launch and North Korea's determination to prioritize its missile and nuclear weapons programs over the well-being of its people, whose struggles only intensify with North Korea's diversion of scarce resources to such destabilizing activities," Rice said.

"The United States is fully committed to the security of our allies in the region, and we will take all necessary steps to defend ourselves and our allies and respond to North Korean provocations."

She also urged the international community to "stand together and demonstrate to North Korea that its reckless actions must have serious consequences."

US Strategic Command said the missile launch took place at 0029 GMT Sunday and had a southerly trajectory over the Yellow Sea.

"NORAD determined that at no time was the missile a threat to North America," it added, referring to North American Aerospace Defense Command.

North Korea is already subject to numerous UN sanctions over previous nuclear and rocket tests, but South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said on Thursday its continued provocative behavior showed these had been ineffective.

The only solution, she argued, was to impose sanctions harsh enough "to make it realize that it will not survive unless it gives up its nuclear program."