Japan, the United States and South Korea were to jointly press for a new resolution to be adopted against North Korea's rocket launch at a session of the U.N. Security Council on Sunday, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said.

Following the launch at 11:30 a.m., Nakasone held separate phone talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan, as well as with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

"I told them that North Korea's launch undermines peace in our region and constitutes a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Therefore, it is intolerable," Nakasone told reporters.