'Test-fires aimed at forcing US to hold direct talks'

They said the launch of six missiles, including a Taepodong long-range model, illustrated North Korea's frustration with the six-nation talks process championed by Washington.

And they warned that Washington would eventually have to deal directly with the unpredictable regime of Kim Jong-Il if it wanted to defuse the rumbling standoff over North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes.

"It wanted to shock the United States, attract US attention and force Washington to change its policy towards Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme and missiles," said Paik Hak-Soon of the private Sejong Institute.

"In the short term, the United States will angrily react to the launch but it will see the only long-term solution is direct talks with North Korea because it has no effective counter-measures," Paik said.

The administration of US President George W. Bush rejected the previous US government's policy of engagement with North Korea when it took office in 2001, setting the stage for five years of confrontation.

North Korea has since re-started a mothballed nuclear reactor, withdrawn from the Non-Proliferation Treaty and declared itself a nuclear weapons power before breaking its moratorium on ballistic missile launches.

The United States has sought to deal with North Korea through multilateral talks involving China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. However discussions have been stalled since November.

North Korea agreed in principle to scrap its nuclear weapons programme two months earlier, but it later pulled out of the talks, citing US financial sanctions imposed for money laundering and illegal financial activities.

"The US government has been trying to mobilize six-party talks participants to put collective pressure on North Korea in the hope that the North will just throw up its hands under this pressure. This assumption already proved to be wrong," Paik said.

The US stance has won support from Japan, but China and South Korea have favoured a softer line. North Korea has skillfully exploited the differences, especially between Seoul and Washington.

"North Korea went ahead with the missile launch to give an impression that it never succumbs to outside pressure," said Baek Seung-Joo, the head of the North Korean team at the Korea Institute for Defence Analysis.

"The stalemate at six-party talks will continue for a considerable time and inter-Korean relations will be affected seriously," he said.

Analysts say North Korea's development of its missile and nuclear programmes is driven by genuine fear of US attack, reinforced by the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as well as diplomatic brinkmanship.