North Korea's launch Sunday of what it described as a rocket carrying an Earth observation satellite — but widely deemed a long-range ballistic missile test in disguise — came just as the international community struggled to come up with strong action against a nuclear weapons test by the reclusive regime just last month. Relevant parties need to come to grips with why past international actions, including economic sanctions under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council, have failed to stop Pyongyang's repeated missile and nuclear weapons tests, and reconsider what actions to take.

It is apparent that the missile launch and the nuclear weapons test — which Pyongyang said was its first successful explosion of a hydrogen bomb, a claim widely doubted — is aimed at burnishing the image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ahead of the ruling Workers' Party scheduled to be held in May for the first time in 36 years. The Kim regime must realize that such provocative acts only serve to deepen the country's international isolation — and that it is the North Korean people who ultimately stand to suffer.

The international community also needs to take seriously the fact that its responses to North Korea's repeated provocations — a series of U.N.-led economic sanctions — have not been effective in curtailing the regime's military ambitions. That Pyongyang has been able to continue its missile and nuclear weapons programs — spending vast resources on them over an extended period of time — is proof that efforts to contain the regime through economic sanctions have not worked as intended. Pyongyang repeats provocative acts because it is betting that the international community will condemn them but won't be able to take more effective action.