North Korea has carried out its third nuclear test, and may yet stage more tests this year. We should see that the purpose of North Korea developing its nuclear capabilities is not for the sake of boosting nuclear technologies or to challenge the world. Rather, it is to seek a secure external environment needed for its economic development.

From the Soviet Union to China and North Korea, whether these postwar socialistic countries can concentrate on developing their economies never totally depended on themselves but largely the security environment they exist in.

Since 1953, the situation in the Korean Peninsula cannot be called "peaceful." Hostilities between North Korea and the US and South Korea still exist. After the drastic changes in eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the pressure placed on North Korea by the West and South Korea to overthrow its regime has soared.

Most Chinese, including myself, don't want to see our neighbors developing nuclear weapons. We should see the changes in North Korea since Kim Jong-un took power a year ago, such as in domestic policies, institutional setups and the country's overall development path.

North Korea is trying to transform from its "military first" politics to setting a new priority on economy while promoting reform and opening-up. North Korea's latest nuclear test, as well as its satellite launch in December, is aimed at normalizing relations with Western countries which the North hopes could realize that its regime is not easy to overthrow. Domestically, it hopes to raise the prestige of Kim Jong-un and win support from South Korean nationalists.

It is reasonable for the North Korean leadership to seek a safe external environment. Whether the strategy succeeds depends on whether Pyongyang can find the right way to do so and grasp its transformation opportunity.

This strategy, though reasonable, calls for high economic costs and may have serious aftereffects. The environment for peaceful development that China cherishes will be affected. China needs a friendly neighbor, and its tolerance toward others' self-centered behavior remains limited.

China and other countries should exert certain pressure on North Korea. But they should also eliminate North Korea's worries about an insecure environment. The US and South Korea, especially, should not intensify the conflict and make the situation more complex.

The author is a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn