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 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 and travelled a distance of 2,380km.

An object has to reach a height of 160km 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.

The launch begins from 17.56 in.