Speaking at a Brookings Institution conference on May 27th in Washington D.C., Director of the Center for NE Asian Policy Studies Richard Bush suggested, “China fears that a nuclear North Korea equates to a nuclear North-East Asia,” and that this more than anything could be driving Beijing to take a harder line with its partners in Pyongyang.
Former Senior Director for East Asian Affairs on the National Security Council Dennis Wilder agreed, “Our role is to get China to sign a stronger U.N. Security Council Resolution and to get China to live up to commitments they have made to the UN Sec. Council Resolution 1718,” he said, before suggesting that in light of fresh Chinese cooperation it might be “time for China to send another special emissary to Pyongyang… Time for another heart-to-heart talk between China and North Korea.”
There have already been some conservative calls in Seoul for South Korea to reassess its own lack of deterrent, lending weight to Chinese fears of a possible East-Asian nuclear arms race. A Chosun Ilbo editorial proclaimed on the 26th;
“North Korea claims its rationale for having nuclear weapons is to defend itself. South Korea too now requires a deterrent. If the day comes when the republic and the lives of its citizens are threatened, we must take on the problems posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ICBMs by realizing that we can no longer accept the limitations of international treaties.”
However, Wilder noted that despite its broader fears, “Beijing still sees its national security interest in having a weak North Korean regime dependent on it as opposed to a chaotic one or a unified one under SK leadership.”
