Give sanctions time to bite, and leave door open to talks

Every time the Democratic People's Republic of Korea conducts a nuclear test or missile launch, it is followed by a chorus of condemnation and a package of UN sanctions. Then everything goes back to "normal", with Pyongyang and Washington continuing their brinkmanship and the rest of the world helplessly looking on.

To ensure a peaceful Korean Peninsula that vicious circle must come to an end.

The UN Security Council has issued another strongly worded condemnation following Pyongyang's missile launch on Friday. But such rhetoric never works with the DPRK, whose leadership is seeking an "equilibrium of real force with the US" - that being to its mind nuclear deterrence.