China denounces any military use of North Korea's technology.

North Korea’s (click here) official news agency announced that the Unha-3 carrier rocket has delivered into orbit the second version of Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite on Wednesday.

I think China was as alarmed as any other country on the planet. Russia on the other hand is very subdued in their response.

4:17PM EST December 12. 2012 - BEIJING — North Korea's launch (click here for video) of a long-range rocket Wednesday in defiance of international warnings prompted denunciations from the U.S. and its allies as the regime of Kim Jong Un took a giant step forward in its quest to develop the technology to deliver a nuclear warhead.

The governments of the United States, South Korea and Japan quickly condemned the morning launch, and experts on the Korean Peninsula weighed in on the international repercussions of the successful launch following several failed attempts....

I sincerely believe everyone was taken by surprise. The question is what's next. Will North Korea be content with it's new status or are their ambitions beyond that? I have to wonder what prompted President Obama to focus on the Pacific in recent years. It is just in time. 

WEDNESDAY, DEC 12, 2012 11:40 AM EST

BY NATASHA LENNARD

...The U.S. condemned the “highly provocative act”;(click here) Japan called the launch “extremely regrettable”; South Korea said it was “a clear violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions … and a threat to peace to the Korean Peninsula and around the world.” The U.N.’s Ban Ki Moon concurred. China, North Korea’s closest ally in the region, even offered a tepid criticism: “We hope relevant parties stay calm in order to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” said a spokesperson from the Chinese Foreign Ministry....

NORAD and USNORTHCOM Public Affairs
December 11, 2012

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - North American (click here) Aerospace Defense Command officials acknowledged today that U.S. missile warning systems detected and tracked the launch of a North Korean missile at 7:49 p.m. EST. The missile was tracked on a southerly azimuth. Initial indications are that the first stage fell into the Yellow Sea. The second stage was assessed to fall into the Philippine Sea. Initial indications are that the missile deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit. At no time was the missile or the resultant debris a threat to North America.