Vietnam has expressed its worry about the latest missile launch by North Korea notwithstanding UN resolutions and the international community’s criticism.

The Southeast Asian country is deeply concerned about a recent launch using ballistic missile technology by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Le Hai Binh said on Tuesday, referring to the full name of the East Asian nation.

Binh expressed Vietnam’s deep concern over North Korea defying the international community’s opposition to conduct the rocket firing via ballistic missile technology on Sunday, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

That launch violated relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and escalated tensions in the region, he added.

“Vietnam’s consistent viewpoint is supporting all efforts aiming to maintain peace, stability and development in the Korean Peninsula as well as in the region and the world,” the spokesperson said.

“Vietnam supports the settlement of all disputes via dialogue and affirms that the UN Security Council’s relevant resolutions need to be seriously implemented.”

North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Sunday carrying what it called a satellite, but its neighbours and the United States denounced the launch as a missile test, conducted in defiance of UN sanctions and just weeks after a nuclear bomb test, Reuters reported.

The U.S. Strategic Command said it had detected a missile entering space, and South Korea's military said the rocket had put an object into orbit.

North Korea said the launch of the satellite Kwangmyongsong-4, named after late leader Kim Jong Il, was a "complete success" and it was making a polar orbit of Earth every 94 minutes.

The launch prompted South Korea and the United States to announce that they would explore the feasibility of deploying an advanced missile defence system in South Korea, which China and Russia both oppose, "at the earliest possible date." The launch and the Jan. 6 nuclear test are seen as efforts by the North's young leader to bolster his domestic legitimacy ahead of a ruling party congress in May, the first since 1980.

North Korea's embassy in Moscow said in a statement the country would continue to launch rockets carrying satellites, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.