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North Korea appears to have turned a corner in its goal of achieving mastery of ballistic missiles.
This is the view of US officials and weapons experts after Pyongyang's successful rocket launch.
A particular concern for US officials is that Iran could take heart from its Asian ally's success and accelerate what the West suspects is a goal of developing a warhead.
Pyongyang and Tehran have closely cooperated in developing missile systems for more than 20 years.
The UN Security Council condemned the North's launch yesterday of a three-stage rocket that Pyongyang claimed had placed a weather satellite into orbit.
The launch appeared to be the country's first breakthrough following four largely unsuccessful tries since 1998.
