The National Security Council on Wednesday condemned North Korea's rocket launch as a grave violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a serious provocation threatening peace on the Korean Peninsula and beyond, the presidential office said.

The presidential office convened an emergency NSC standing committee meeting led by National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong to discuss North Korea's "long-range ballistic missile launch under the pretext of a so-called satellite," it said in a statement.

North Korea fired the rocket at around 6:30 a.m., according to South Korea's military, going ahead with a launch it said would take place between Wednesday and June 11. The North later acknowledged failure in the launch and vowed to try again as soon as possible.

"The NSC standing committee members emphasized that this launch, regardless of whether it succeeded, was a grave violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a serious provocation threatening peace and safety on the Korean Peninsula and in the international community, and condemned this," the statement said.

"Also, the participants agreed to maintain a coordination posture with allies and friendly nations while continuing to carefully monitor the possibility of North Korea's additional launches," it added.

The NSC meeting was attended by Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and National Intelligence Service Director Kim Kyou-hyun, among others, and preceded by a security situation assessment meeting.

President Yoon Suk Yeol was briefed immediately after the launch and continued to be updated in real time, his office said earlier.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectile fell into waters some 200 kilometers west of the South's southwestern island of Eocheong after an "abnormal" flight.

North Korea's space agency later acknowledged the rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite crashed into the Yellow Sea due to an engine defect and that it plans to conduct an additional launch in the near future, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency. (Yonhap)