The ruling and main opposition parties strongly condemned North Korea's rocket launch as a violation of U.N. resolutions that threatens peace and heightens tensions on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.
"North Korea went ahead and fired a projectile southward in defiance of warnings from the international community," Rep. Yoo Sang-bum, spokesman of the ruling People Power Party, said, warning that the launch will turn out to be Pyongyang's "worst move."
"Moreover, this provocation, which violates U.N. Security Council resolutions banning launches using ballistic missile technology, is an act of grave threat to peace and stability around the Korean Peninsula in that it was fired southward," he said.
Earlier in the day, the North fired what it claims to be a satellite-carrying space rocket. But the launch ended in failure, with the rocket falling in the Yellow Sea after an "abnormal" flight. The North said it will try again as soon as possible.
Rep. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), also denounced the launch.
"This is a clear violation of U.N. resolutions and an act that does all harm and no good," Lee said. "I strongly condemn it."
Lee also urged the North to abide by U.N. resolutions.
He also criticized the government over an erroneous emergency alert sent out to people in Seoul.
Shortly after the North's launch, the Seoul city government sent out the alert advising people to prepare for evacuation. But the interior ministry later retracted the alert, saying it was sent by mistake.
The DP also raised questions about whether President Yoon Suk Yeol responded properly to the launch.
"An emergency standing committee meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) was held in a confusing situation, such as Seoul city sending an emergency disaster alert, but President Yoon did not attend it," Rep. Kwon Chil-seung, a DP spokesperson, said.
"Where was the president, who is supposed to take care of people's anxiety and confusion?" he said. "What was the unavoidable reason that President Yoon was not able to preside over an emergency NSC meeting?"
The presidential office said Yoon was briefed immediately after the North's launch and has since been updated on the situation in real time.
Source: Yonhap News Agency