UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday voiced his regret over the rocket launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), calling on the DPRK to comply with relevant Security Council resolutions.

"The secretary-general regrets that, against strong international appeal, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) went ahead with its planned launch," said a statement issued by Ban's spokesperson.

"Given the volatility in the region, as well as a stalemate in interaction among the concerned parties, such a launch is not conducive to efforts to promote dialogue, regional peace and stability," the statement said.

The UN chief "urges DPRK to comply with relevant Security Council resolutions, and all countries concerned to focus on ways to build confidence and restore dialogue, including the early resumption of the Six-Party Talks," it said, adding Ban will lend his full support to these efforts.

The DPRK launched a rocket from a site in northeastern DPRK at 11:30 a.m. local time (0230 GMT) on Sunday. The launch has been confirmed by the governments of Japan, South Korea and the United States. But it has not yet been confirmed by the DPRK.

At the request of Japan, the UN Security Council will hold an emergency session on Sunday afternoon to discuss the DPRK's rocket launch.

The spokesman for the Mexican Mission to the United Nations, which holds the rotating council presidency for April, said that Japan presented a formal letter to the Security Council requesting an emergency session.

The UN Spokesperson's Office told Xinhua that the 15-nation council will start to meet at 15:00 EDT (1900 GMT) Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2009)