Motivated by the Kronecker product approximation technique, we have developed a very simple method to assess the inseparability of bipartite quantum systems, which is based on a realigned matrix constructed from the density matrix. For any separable state, the sum of the singular values of the matrix should be less than or equal to $1$. This condition provides a very simple, computable necessary criterion for separability, and shows powerful ability to identify most bound entangled states discussed in the literature. As a byproduct of the criterion, we give an estimate for the degree of entanglement of the quantum state.