Spotlight: Sanctions not fundamental way of solving Korean Peninsula nuclear issue -- experts

The world's major powers and the United Nations have strongly condemned the nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), vowing to take "further significant measures."

The UN Security Council on Wednesday convened an emergency closed-door meeting after the DPRK announced that it successfully carried out its first hydrogen bomb test. Many countries, including South Korea and the United States, have held respective emergency meetings on the issue.

Experts believed the international community will enhance sanctions against the DPRK. However, sanctions are not the fundamental way of solving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

Ling Shengli, secretary-general of the International Security Study Center at China Foreign Affairs University, said sanctions are not a long-term solution, even not a makeshift so far.

"Looking back to the past 20 years, sanctions played little role in solving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, but made the country more isolated and self-dependent, which decreased its contact with outside world, reducing the effectiveness of the sanctions," Ling said.

In his opinion, simply imposing sanctions cannot solve the issue, but the key lies in establishing a peace system and solving security issues. "Such sanctions will only make daily life harder, not affect its development of nuclear weapons for the DPRK has mobilized the entire country to do so."

Ling's opinions were echoed by Li Jiacheng, a research fellow at the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies of Liaoning University, who said the international community will increase sanctions against the DPRK, but they should be placed under the framework of the UN Security Council.

Right after the DPRK's first nuclear test in 2006, the Security Council adopted a resolution to impose sanctions on the DPRK and set up a sanctions committee.

In response to nuclear tests conducted by the DPRK in 2009 and 2013, the Security Council has adopted another three resolutions to strengthen sanctions on the DPRK, which include an arms embargo, an embargo related to nuclear, ballistic missiles, and a ban on the export of luxury goods.

China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has firmly opposed the nuclear test, urging the DPRK "to honor its commitment to denuclearization and to cease any action that may deteriorate the situation."

Ling warned that the DPRK is very likely to go further on the nuclear path and become more self-dependent without considering much international responses.

Li has a similar view. "The purpose of the fourth nuclear test is not aimed at promoting negotiation, but developing toward a combination of nuclear bomb and missile."

The nuclear test was linked to the change of relations between China, the United States and the DPRK, Ling said. "Sino-U.S. joint sanctions have compounded the difficulties in the country and catalyzed its arbitrary act."

Thus, he proposed a three-step solution -- nonproliferation, abandonment of all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear program, and denuclearization.

He emphasized that compared with sanction and isolation, engaging the DPRK and encouraging economic reform in the country can make the country abandon nuclear weapons.

On the other hand, the nuclear test has demonstrated the failure of the U.S. policy toward the DPRK. Therefore, Washington needs to shoulder the consequences and should not pass them to China and other countries, he said.

As for China-DPRK relations, the DPRK's irresponsible and regrettable act has widened their strategic differences, as the nuclear test goes against China's policy goal in the denuclearization on the peninsula, according to the security expert.

Li also admitted that the prospects of the bilateral relations have been damaged. Moreover, the test brought a series of destructive impacts on the Northeast Asian security situation and added more uncertainties to the denuclearization outlook on the Korean Peninsula.

However, both experts believed that the traditional friendship between the two countries is far away from bankruptcy.

After the latest nuclear test, China has underscored its firm stand on promoting denuclearization and safeguarding peace and stability on the peninsula, and will continue to take part in the UN Security Council discussions. Endi