By Chung Min-uck
North Korea is desperately seeking China’s help to deflate growing pressure from the South Korean-U.S. alliance, experts said, Tuesday, but under its new President Xi Zinping, Beijing is not as forthcoming in offering assistance.
“Pyongyang saw Washington’s position on denuclearization,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies. “So it is asking China to play a mediator role.”
On Monday the North said its First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye-kwan will meet with his Chinese counterpart Zhang Yesui in Beijing today for a “strategic dialogue.”
The move came right after Washington turned down Pyongyang’s proposal for high-level talks. The U.S. insisted that North Korea must first demonstrate its sincerity for talks through actions on denuclearization.
According to sources, those measures include halting its nuclear program and uranium enrichment activities, and allowing an inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Seoul and Washington have been united in their reaction to the North’s latest overtures, effectively calling on it to halt its nuclear ambitions before engaging in talks.
President Park Geun-hye and U.S. President Barack Obama reaffirmed in a phone conversation Monday that while they were open to dialogue, there would be no “talks for talks’ sake” in dealing with North Korea.
Earlier this month, Pyongyang also proposed talks with Seoul, but the dialogue collapsed due to a difference over the seniority of chief representatives.
Meanwhile, some see Kim’s visit as an attempt to mend ties with China and a precursor to the resumption of the stalled six-party talks.
Beijing has recently been voicing frustration with its ally in line with Seoul and Washington since Pyongyang’s nuclear test in February.
In a landmark summit between Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, they concurred that the North should give up its nuclear program to ensure peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Xi also urged denuclearization when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s envoy Choe Ryong-hae visited Beijing last month.
“During Choe’s visit to China, he mentioned the resumption of the six-party talks,” said Professor Yu Ho-yeol of Korea University. “This visit should also be interpreted in the same sense as the North seeking to engage with China for the talks.”
The multilateral forum — involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan — was founded to persuade the North to give up its nuclear program. It has been stalled since late 2008.
However, the multilateral approach has lately been taking shape with Cho Tae-yong, Seoul’s chief nuclear envoy, leaving for Washington, Tuesday, for a trilateral meeting with his American and Japanese counterparts — Glyn Davies and Shinsuke Sugiyama.
Cho will visit Beijing to meet his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei later this week.
Seoul is scheduled to hold a summit with Beijing later this month where joint measures on Pyongyang’s provocative actions will be discussed.
Reportedly, Cho is planning to visit Moscow to discuss about easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.