U.S. President Barack Obama has denounced North Korea for launching a long-range rocket in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution, and has pledged to bring the matter to the council for punitive action.

In a statement issued Sunday in a stop in Prague in the Czech Republic, he said the U.S. will bring the matter to the Security Council.

Obama also urged the North to refrain from further provocative acts.

The president, however, stressed that efforts for the North’s denuclearization through the six-party nuclear talks should continue.