(Image source: CBS News)   BY ELIZABETH HAGEDORN ANCHOR ZACH TOOMBS   North Korea has launched its widely criticized long-range rocket designed to carry a satellite into space, according to the governments of Japan and South Korea. CNN has the latest. “The South Korean news agency, Yonhap, is reporting that North Korea has fired what it has called a long range rocket from North Korea. The last we heard officially from North Korea was that it had extended the launch window by one week.” This comes just days after Pyongyang announced it would delay the rocket launch until the end of December, citing technical problems. But on Wednesday morning, the rocket took off from a location near North Korea’s western coast -- defying U.N. sanctions banning missile testing. Per the BBC , the Japanese government says the missile passed over Okinawa and debris had landed east of the Philippines. Both Japan and South Korea had placed their armed forces on high alert.   While North Korea says it’s using the missile to put a satellite into space, critics in the international community have raised concerns that the rocket is merely a front for testing the country’s missile capabilities. A writer at the Wall Street Journal argues the U.S. should now rethink its attitude toward North Korea’s nuclear program.   “By clinging to the hope that Pyongyang can be induced to give up its ambitions for nukes and long-range missiles, government officials are distracted from pursuing policies that might actually manage the increasing danger and enable the people of North Korea to end the Kim dynasty.” This is North Korea’s second attempt at a rocket launch under leader Kim Jong-Un --  in April, its three-stage, long-range missile broke apart mid-flight. Following this very public failure, a writer at the New York Times says this latest launch is exactly what Kim needed to bolster public support. “Mr. Kim needed to redeem his April humiliation not only among his country’s enemies, who he feared would not take him as a worthy foe, but also among his people who have grown increasingly disenchanted with his government’s inability to resolve the prolonged economic crisis...” The launch comes just one day before the anniversary of Kim Jong-Il’s death and a week before South Korea’s presidential election.