North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un says his reclusive nation plans more "satellite launches" -- which the West sees as a cover for ballistic missile tests -- calling space exploration a "strategic goal", state media said Friday.

President Obama has signed off new expanded sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear programme, weeks after it launched a long-range rocket.

China's foreign ministry urges the United States and North Korea to sit down with each other face-to-face and resolve their problems, as tension continues to climb on the Korean peninsula after North Korea's latest rocket test.

North Korea executes its army chief of staff Ri Yong-gil, according to unconfirmed South Korean media reports.

Dhaka expresses deep concern over the recent rocket launch by North Korea and urges the country to refrain from any action that might escalate tension in the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea is to suspend operations at a jointly run industrial park in North Korea following the North's recent rocket launch and nuclear test.

North Korea's weekend rocket launch repeated earlier success rather than breaking new ground, using a nearly identical design from a 2012 launch, experts said, adding the reclusive country probably remained years from building a long-range nuclear missile.

A satellite sent into space by North Korea is in orbit but it is not yet clear whether it is working, South Korea's defence ministry has said.

North Korea launches a long-range rocket, the first day of its announced eight-day launch window and about a month after the country's fourth nuclear test leads to international condemnation.

The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting later following North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket.

North Korea has brought forward the possible date of a controversial "satellite" launch to as early as Sunday, regional governments say.

South Korea and Japan echo US warnings that North Korea would pay a heavy price if it pushes ahead with a planned rocket launch just weeks after conducting its fourth nuclear test.

Scientists are set to announce today whether the civilization is any closer or farther from disaster based on a "Doomsday Clock" that measures the likelihood of a global catastrophe.

North Korea says it has arrested a US student accused of committing a "hostile act" against the state. State news agency KCNA identifies him as University of Virginia student Otto Frederick Warmbier.

A US long-range heavy bomber flew over South Korea, the US military says, days after North Korea conducted its first alleged hydrogen bomb test in defiance of international sanctions.

Expressing concern at the recent nuclear tests carried out by the North Korea, Bangladesh urges the country to refrain from any activity which can potentially escalate the situation.

The North Korean authorities say they have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb amid reports of a tremor near the main nuclear test site.

A top aide to the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has died in a car crash, state news agency KCNA has said.

A North Korean diplomat has been expelled from South Africa for illegal rhino horn trading, according to a spokesman for South Africa's Department of International Relations.

Twitter has sent warnings to a number of users that their accounts may have been hacked by "state-sponsored actors".