Watch: North Korea's Latest Rocket Launch

North Korea has released TV footage of the launch of a rocket it says put a satellite into space.

Pictures show the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un talking to members of his staff at the control centre before the blast-off.

Then, after the device leaves the gantry and heads into the atmosphere, he is seen grinning as his commanders take notes.

In a state TV broadcast, a North Korean presenter said the "epochal" launch was personally ordered by the leader.

The newsreader said: "We will now broadcast the Chosun record video of the successful launch of the earth satellite Kwangmyongsong-4 under the leadership of our respected leader Kim Jong-Un."

The country claimed the launch was a "complete success" and the satellite was making a polar orbit of Earth every 94 minutes.

Pictures of debris with the appearance of a nose cone have been released by South Korea's Defence Ministry, which said the object was retrieved from its territorial waters, off the island of Jeju.

A South Korean official said the rocket appeared to be more powerful than North Korea's Unha-3 rocket, launched in December 2012, with an increased range of 12,000km (7,500 miles) which, they said, puts most of the US within reach.

The source told AFP the three-stage rocket was confirmed to have put an object into orbit but experts had not yet verified whether the alleged satellite was functioning.

A graphic released by South Korea suggested the latest launch would have reached an altitude of more than 400km (250 miles) and travelled a distance of 2,380km (1,487 miles).

An object has to reach a height of 160km (99 miles) in order to stay in orbit.

There had been fears that Sunday's rocket launch was actually a disguised ballistic missile test.

The unnamed official told AFP that North Korea has not yet mastered the necessary technology needed to turn the rocket into an inter-continental ballistic missile.

In order to deliver a nuclear payload, the official said, a re-entry vehicle was needed to protect the warhead from heat.

The test was widely condemned by politicians across the globe, with the UK summoning the North Korean ambassador to protest .

The UN has vowed to speedily put forward a new resolution with "significant" sanctions against Pyongyang.

On Tuesday it was reported that North Korea has expanded a uranium enrichment facility and restarted a plutonium reactor .