North Korea’s successful launch of a satellite ― effectively proving its long-range missile capabilities ― has offered a reality check to the two main presidential candidates on their policies toward the bellicose regime.

The two frontrunners both stress flexibility and dialogue in their policies toward the North. But the launch has clearly shown that their policies are based not on reality but vague and groundless expectations.

In the first TV debate held on Dec. 4, Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party said she would seek to normalize inter-Korean relations based on a firm security posture and mutual confidence.

Park said any future provocation by the North would be met with a stern response. But at the same time, she said she would pursue unconditional dialogue with Pyongyang and try to build mutual confidence.

She said she would promote summits with the North Korean leader, set up inter-Korean exchange and cooperation offices in Seoul and Pyongyang and provide humanitarian support to the North without attaching any strings.

Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party declared his opposition to North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons. But he pledged to hold an inter-Korean summit in the first year of his presidency and seek an agreement with the North Korean leader on his “Korean Peninsula peace initiative.”

The DUP candidate also pledged to expand the Gaeseong industrial complex in the North, resume the stalled Mount Geumgang tourism project and start talks with the North to create joint fishing zones around the Northern Limit Line.

Thus, the two candidates declared a shift from the current administration’s inflexible North Korea policy. Yet the launch has called into question whether they would be able to put their policies into practice.

Following its missile progress, the North is expected to undertake another nuclear test of a miniaturized nuclear warhead. But whether or not it succeeds in making a small enough nuclear device, it will claim to have become a nuclear power.

If the next Seoul government seeks dialogue with a nuclear-armed North Korea, it is certain to face Pyongyang’s high-handed demands for unconditional economic assistance.

Furthermore, it would go out of synch with the global community that seeks to ratchet up sanctions on the North.

As long as the North pursues its nuclear ambitions, there is little room for dialogue. This stark reality should not be ignored. The next president will have to figure out how to deal with the North’s nuclear threat.