Vietnam Sunday called for a “prudent reaction” to Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s rocket launch which provoked international condemnation.

Foreign ministry spokesman Le Dung

Pyongyang Sunday launched a long-range rocket to put a satellite in orbit but which the United States and Japan said was an illegal missile test.

Russia called for restraint on Sunday after DPRK launched a long-range rocket.

DPRK launched a multistage rocket with a communications satellite at 11:30 a.m. (02:30 a.m. GMT) over Japan on Sunday, defying pressure from the United States, Japan and South Korea and other countries, which suspect the country of testing its Taepodong-2 long-range missile.

“We are checking whether this [launch] is a violation of the corresponding resolutions of the UN Security Council and call on all parties to refrain from actions that could lead to the escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

US President Barack Obama called for a strong international response, with the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting later in the day.

Prior to the launch, Vietnam, which is a non-permanent member of the Council, had said it supported “efforts for peace, stability and denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,” without explicitly mentioning the rocket.

“It is Vietnam’s consistent policy to advocate for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction,” Mr. Dung said in the earlier statement, while adding that Vietnam supports “the rights of countries to use science and technology for peaceful purposes.”

VietNamNet/SGGP