"Members of the Security Council agreed to continue consultations on an appropriate action by the council in accordance with its responsibilities given the urgency of the matter," Mexico's UN Ambassador Claude Heller, the council chair this month, told reporters after Sunday's meeting.

The United States and Japan, which called for the meeting in response to what they view as Pyongyang's "provocative act," said the launch of a three-stage Taepodong-2 missile, with an estimated range of 4,100 miles (6,700 kilometers) violated Security Council resolution 1718.

That resolution, adopted in 2006 after the North's missile launches on July 5 and nuclear test on October 9 that year, demanded that Pyongyang refrain from any further nuclear test or another ballistic missile launch.

US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice told reporters that additional consultations would continue both here and in capitals around the world to try to agree "a clear and strong response from the council."

Diplomats said there was general agreement on expressing concern over the launch and calling on Pyongyang to return to the six-party talks and to respect UN resolutions.

"The fact of the launch was in itself a clear violation of (1718). The use of ballistic missile technology is a clear violation of the resolution which prohibits missile-related activities," Rice noted.

A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Rice, backed by her British and French colleagues, pressed for a "strong condemnation" of the North Korean action during the consultations.

But Russia, China, Libya, Uganda and Vietnam called for restraint in the council's reaction so as not to endanger the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament, the diplomat added.

The six-party talks bring together the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

"We are now in a very sensitive moment. All countries concerned should show restraint and refrain from taking action that might lead to increased tension," China's UN Ambassador Zhang Yesui told reporters.

"Our position is that the council's reaction has be cautious and proportionate," he added, vowing that his country would participate in the discussions in a "constructive and responsible manner."

His Japanese counterpart, Yukio Takasu, insisted that Tokyo wanted a "clear, firm and unified response" from the council in the form of a resolution.

"Rules must be binding, violations must be punished, words must mean something," US President Barack Obama earlier said during a speech in Prague about ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

But Russia and China, both veto-wielding members of the Security Council, urged restraint.

"Relevant parties must ... avoid taking actions that could make the situation even more tense," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said in a statement posted on the foreign ministry website.

Russia also urged restraint while a report said Moscow was studying whether Pyongyang had broken any UN Security Council resolutions.

Diplomats here say Beijing and Moscow are likely to block any bid by the United States and its Western allies to push for new sanctions on North Korea over the latest rocket launch.

But a Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the council might take up a resolution or a non-binding statement that would reaffirm existing sanctions.

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak joined the chorus of recriminations against neighboring North Korea, calling its missile launch a "reckless act" and saying Seoul would deal "firmly and sternly with the North's provocation."

For several tense minutes, the North Korean rocket flew through the airspace of Japan, which had given its military the authority to shoot down any threat to its soil -- something Pyongyang had warned would be seen as an act of war.

But Japan said the booster rockets fell harmlessly into the water, while the United States and Seoul said the launch had failed to get its payload, a satellite, into orbit.

earlier related report
NKorea launch sets back disarmament talks: experts
North Korea's rocket launch has likely poisoned the atmosphere for a quick resumption of international talks aimed at dismantling the secretive nation's nuclear programmes, experts said.

North Korea on Sunday launched what it said was a communications satellite, an event that drew condemnation from the United States and its allies who said it was a ballistic missile test in defiance of a United Nations resolution.

The launch comes amid another stalemate in a tortuous six-nation diplomatic effort aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear programmes that began in 2003.

The talks, hosted by China and including the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia, have been stalled since December last year after North Korea refused to agree on ways of verifying its claims on nuclear disarmament moves.

"It will definitely further delay the resumption of the next round of meetings, for sure," said Professor Jing-dong Yuan, a non-proliferation expert at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California.

A key reason is the tough reaction from the United States and its allies, who have taken the issue to the UN Security Council, saying the launch violates a resolution banning North Korean missile activity.

"Then the question is, can the US get China and Russia to support sanctions?" said Adam Segal, a China expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, a US-based think tank.

"If they can, then the future process looks greatly complicated."

The initial US and Japanese efforts to secure a united response at the United Nations failed on Sunday with China and Russia calling for restraint so as to not endanger the six-party talks.

Experts say the unpredictable North Korean regime is using the affair to seize the attention of US President Barack Obama's new administration, possibly to extract concessions, before agreeing to resume the six-party talks.

The talks culminated in a landmark deal in 2007 under which Pyongyang agreed to scrap its nuclear programmes in exchange for energy aid.

But after years of North Korean brinksmanship -- and with a UN resolution now possibly in violation -- the patience of the other countries in the disarmament effort has likely worn thin, said Yuan.

"I doubt North Korea can wring concessions from the others. On the contrary, it may face further isolation, if not additional sanctions," he said.

Torpedoeing the six-party talks, however, might be just what North Korea wants, said Jonathan Pollack, an expert on the country at the US Naval War College.

Pollack noted that the prestige-conscious North Koreans have long sought direct talks with Washington.

"My expectation is that North Korea will seek in the near term to secure direct talks with the US. I think it extremely unlikely, however, that the US would proceed through bilateral talks," he said.

The possibility that the launch could lead to an indefinite breakdown in the six-party process is deeply worrying from a proliferation standpoint, said Daniel Pinkston, a senior analyst in Seoul with the International Crisis Group.

"One of the things we are concerned about is an over-reaction that could exacerbate the situation and set the talks back even more," he said.

The International Crisis Group issued a statement last week saying any launch should be met with a "calm, coordinated response from the key actors to raise pressure on Pyongyang to return to the talks".

Most analysts, however, said the strong international desire to defang North Korea, combined with the dire economic straits face by Pyongyang, will likely bring all sides back together at some point.

"Over time I think all the parties will get over this and return to the negotiating table," said Yuan.

US nuclear envoy Stephen Bosworth indicated as much Friday when he said the United States still hoped to return to the talks within a "reasonable" period, whether or not Pyongyang launched a missile.

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