Moscow - Russia has urged the international community to show restraint in its reaction to Sunday's controversial rocket launch by North Korea.

Military experts must investigate the incident in order to give a conclusive assessment, said Russian foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko on Sunday, the Interfax news agency reported.

Russian military authorities have called for an investigation into whether the rocket launched by North Korea was a carrier craft for a satellite, as Pyongyang has claimed, or a test of a potential long- range ballistic missile. (dpa)