Welp.

They did it.

According to the Associated Press (in the tweet below), mad boy Kim Jong-un and North Korea have fired a “long-range rocket” that many international defense officials believe is actually a ballistic missile. Critics are saying they’re using the rocket term as a “cover” for the deadly intercontinental explosive.

The totalitarian dictatorship had announced a launch earlier in the week.

UPDATE: According to a South Korean defense ministry official, North Korea HAS launched a long-range missile, not a rocket.

This from CNN:

A senior U.S. defense official said he can “confirm that we have detected a missile launch from North Korea. Based upon its trajectory as we are tracking it, it does not pose a threat to the U.S. or our allies. We will have more updates soon.”

U.S. officials have said the same type of rocket used to launch the satellite could deliver a nuclear warhead.

SECOND UPDATE: A media report out of South Korea is now saying that the launch may have failed.

THIRD UPDATE: This from the Agence France-Presse (AFP):

There was no immediate external confirmation that the final stage of the satellite-bearing rocket had successfully achieved orbit, although a US defense official said the launch vehicle “appears to have reached space.”

In New York, diplomats said the UN Security Council would meet in emergency session later Sunday to discuss what UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described as a “deeply deplorable” development.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said the Council should respond quickly with “strong punitive measures.”

Stay tuned to the blog for more on this developing story.