Test 'not immediate threat' to regional security

Yesterday's rocket launch will give the DPRK's missile program a big boost if proven to have been successful but it does not immediately make the world a more dangerous place, analysts say.

"Judging from the trajectory, the rocket was apparently used to put a satellite into orbit as the North (DPRK) has claimed," said Baek Seung-joo of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

"Today's launch should be called a success, especially when we compare it with the 2006 test," he said. The first Taepodong-2 test in July 2006 failed after 40 seconds when the rocket blew up.