A rethink on DPRK policy necessary

Saturday marks the 10th anniversary of the landmark 2005 Six-Party Joint Statement, which was reached by China, Russia, the United States, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and Japan to resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

But the peninsula is still far from being denuclearized. On Tuesday, the DPRK announced that its nuclear scientists were "steadily improving the levels of nuclear weapons with various missions in quality and quantity".

A day before that, the DPRK had said it had reached the final stage of developing satellites for "earth observation", hinting at a possible launch of a long-range rocket or ballistic missile.