The North Korean regime is likely to collapse within 10 to 15 years because of worsening economic difficulties following tightened U.N. sanctions, according to a Chinese political commentator on Wednesday.

Deng Yuwen, who was a former deputy editor of the Study Times, a paper controlled by China's ruling Communist Party, made the claim in his recent article posted on a Chinese military-related website named "Tiexue."

North Korea has been slapped with tougher U.N. sanctions following its fourth nuclear test in January and launch of a long-range rocket in February.

Deng claimed that the tougher sanctions have begun affecting North Korea's isolated economy, including a decline in international food aid, a shortage of foreign currency and a rise of defections.

Unless North Korea changes course under the U.N. sanctions, Deng said, "The possibility of the North Korean regime faltering is a matter of time."

The North Korean regime of leader Kim Jong-un is likely to collapse "within 10 years or 15 years at the longest," Deng said.

Still, few analysts believe that China, North Korea's economic lifeline, would put crippling economic pressure on the North because a sudden collapse of the Pyongyang regime could deal a blow to the stability of China's northeastern region. (Yonhap)