Britain summoned North Korea's ambassador on Monday to condemn Pyongyang's announcement that it had put a satellite into orbit with a rocket launch.

The move announced on Sunday was widely seen as a disguised ballistic missile test and was swiftly criticised by the United Nations Security Council.

'I summoned North Korea's ambassador today to make clear in the strongest terms the UK's condemnation of the launch this weekend,' Britain's Asia minister Hugo Swire said in a statement released by the Foreign Office.

'This test, even if characterised as a space launch vehicle or launch of a satellite, clearly contributes to North Korea's development of nuclear weapon delivery systems and is a serious violation of UN Security Council Resolutions,' the statement said.

The UN has said it will speed up work on a sanctions resolution in response to what it called 'these dangerous and serious violations'.