Crisis, challenge and chance

A friend mentioned Winston Churchill's quip, "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma", while referring to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's plan to launch a rocket allegedly to explore space.

"My dear friend," I said, "just look at the problem from the other side. What you have just said may only be an illustration of limits in our ability to understand others."

"What do you mean?" he said obviously bewildered. According to him, the DPRK, as a poor country, should accord priority to its people's livelihoods, at least their basic needs, and make decisions more out of concern for its people. "How then do you account for the motives of the government adhering to a project that the entire international community condemns as serious provocation?" my friend added.