North Korea's plan to launch an earth-observation satellite later this month has aroused fresh speculations and countermeasures in the West, which fears the launch may turn out to be testing a long-range rocket.

Pyongyang, confirmed to have notified three international monitoring authorities of its launch plan on Tuesday, was reportedly ready to initiate the button between February 8 and 25.

The international worries over the move are understandable, as they came after the West's appeal for tightening sanctions against North Korea following its "hydrogen bomb" test claims last month.

Misgivings have also been aggravated since the country sent a satellite into the orbit with its Unha-3 carrier in December 2012, which it said aimed to carry out purely scientific research but the West condemned it as nothing more than a disguised ballistic missile test, resulting in intensified UN sanctions.

If the firing of a long-range rocket is confirmed this time, the launch, widely seen as the DPRK's latest challenge to the international consensus of denuclearization and non-proliferation on the Korean Peninsula, will undoubtedly further complicate the current regional stalemate, as the US threatened Tuesday to impose tougher additional sanctions on it.

It is crystal clear that the West's speculations and countermeasures result from the lack of mutual trust with North Korea wrought by a Cold War mentality.

But Pyongyang's move will also stick those endorsing a political settlement of the current deadlock in a quagmire of hawkish and bellicose accusations, inducing more suspicions and challenge to the effectiveness of the resumption of the long-suspended Six-Party Talks.

What is worse, North Korea's repeated flagrant disregard for the international consensus exemplified by the UN resolutions will only put wear and tear on the good faith and patience of the international community.

Pyongyang's launch plan comes at a highly sensitive time and profits nobody. It will only exacerbate its decades-long isolation, and is out of tune with its pressing need to improve the people's livelihood and national profile, and its perpetual aspiration for more stakes at the nuclear negotiating table.

Isolated as it is, Pyongyang should also be reminded that since it has no international support due to its previous unscrupulous nuclear provocations, its endeavors to remove the sanctions and emerge from its social and economic predicaments will hardly meet with any success.

It is of the utmost urgency for all parties concerned to display restraint and enhance communication instead of confrontation, in a bid to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.

Since North Korea's detonation of a "hydrogen bomb" last month, China has spared no efforts to promote dialogue with the countries concerned so as to lower the simmering tensions in the peninsula.

Beijing has sent a special envoy to the DPRK to promote political dialogue, and expressed disapproval of US-proposed sanctions that would push Pyongyang to an all-or-nothing outcome.

Gain takes pain. The fundamental solution to the current standoff depends on the West tossing aside its animosity toward the isolated nation.

After all, dealing with an insular nation like North Korea requires more than ever the international community display sincerity and wisdom, so as to create a favorable atmosphere for unlocking the current conundrum.

The author is a writer with the Xinhua News Agency. The article first appeared on Xinhua. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn