Commentary: Pyongyang's planned satellite launch feared to complicate peninsula situation

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s plan to launch an earth-observation satellite later this month has aroused fresh speculations and countermeasures in the West, which fears the launch may turn out to be testing a long-range rocket.

Pyongyang, confirmed to have notified three international monitoring authorities of its launch plan on Tuesday, was reportedly ready to initiate the button between Feb. 8 and Feb. 25.

The international worries over the move are understandable, as they came after the West's appeal for tightening sanctins against the DPRK following its "hydrogen bomb" test last month.

Misgivings having also been aggravated since the country sent a satellite into the orbit with its Unha-3 carrier in December 2012, which it said aimed to carry out purely scientific research but the West condemned as a disguised ballistic missile test, resulting in intensified UN sanctions.

If confirmed to fire a long-range rocket this time, the launch, widely seen as the DPRK's latest challenge to the international consensus of denuclearization and non-proliferation on the Korean Peninsula, will undoubtedly futher complicate the current stalemate in regional peace, as the United States has threatened Tueday to impose tougher additional sanctions on it.

It is crystal clear that the West's speculations and countermeasures result from the lack of mutual trust with the DPRK wrought from a Cold War mentality.

But Pyongyang's move will also make those endorsing the political settlement of the current deadlock stuck in the quagmire of hawkish and bellicose accusations, inducing more suspicions and challenge to the effectiveness of the resumption of the long-suspended six-party talks.

What is worse, the DPRK's repeated flagrant disregard for the international consensus exemplified by the UN resolutions will only wear and tear the good faith and patience of the international community.

For its own part, Pyongyang's launch plan at a highly sensitive time as such is a profitable game for none, which will only exacerbate its decades-long isolation, out of tune with its pressing desire to improve the people's livelihood and national profile, and its perpetual aspiration for more stakes at the nuclear negotiating table.

Isolated as it is, the DPRK should also be reminded that having no international support due to its previous unscrupulous nuclear provocations, its endeavors to remove the sanctions and emerge from its the social and economic predicaments will hardly succeed.

It is of utmost urgency for all parties concerned to display restraint and enhance communication instead of confrontation, in a bid to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.

Since the DPRK's detonation of a "hydrogen bomb" last month, China has spared no efforts to promote dialogue with the countries concerned so as to lower the simmering tension.

Beijing has sent a special envoy to the DPRK to promote political dialogue, and expressed disapproval of U.S.-proposed santions that would push Pyongyang to a neck-or-nothing outcome.

A good gain takes long pain. The fundamental solution to the current standoff depends on the West tossing aside its animosity toward the isolated nation. After all, dealing with an insular nation like the DPRK requires more than ever the international community display sincerity and wisdom, so as to create a favorable atmospere for unlocking the current conundrum. Endi