[imText1]Would the NK-China Relations be restored, which became loose after the missile conflict?
It has been confirmed that last 28th Jang Sung Taek, vice head officer of the Labor Party, and Park Jae Kyung, head of the People’s Army, must have gotten on the special train which passed via Dandong, China. At the same time, some predict that after a long discussion, Chinese leaders would decide to invite high-raking officers of North Korea to restore the relations between the two.
Particularly, it was informed that President Hu jintao of China will deliver his official invitation to North Korea via the U.S. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming to Pyongyang, North Korea this early week.
On the 3rd, Yonhap News reported that an information source from Seoul revealed, “As far as we know, Chinese leaders judged the NK-China summit talk necessary and so decided to invite Kim Jong Il to China”.
Related to this, NHK Korean broadcasting reported that on the 1st, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Daiwei stated “on the first anniversary of the (9.19) Joint Statement, we will surely make North Korea return to the summit six-party talks”.
Vice minister Wu Daiwei mentioned like this to former vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan Yamasaki Taku who had stayed in Beijing, China and emphasized China should make a great effort to resume the six-party talks as a Chair-country.
Some predict that estranged because of the missile conflict and the UN Security Council Resolution, the NK-China relations will be restored.
It has been known that especially Chinese leaders have had a discussion on how to deal with the relations aggravated after the missile conflict.
Some leaders claim that to be a responsible world leader that joined the WTO and is supposed to hold the 2008 Olympic, China should draw the line between the two. On the other hand, others asserted that given the strategic importance and traditional relations between the two, the aggravation of NK-China relations is not desirable.
Yet, it has been known that China is necessary to improve the relations because if North Korea experiments nuclear weapons, the benefits of China will be greatly damaged. On the 28th when Kim Jong Il was rumored to visit to China, the Foreign Ministry of North Korea publicized a statement saying North Korea can experiment nuclear weapons through which tried to pressure China.
An information source of China informed that during that time, North Korean leaders staying in Beijing had an argument with the Chinese Foreign Ministry about the financial sanctions. Some view that after the argument the Chinese Foreign Ministry would suggest economic aids to North Korea and plan to invite it specifically.
At the present, the hot issue surrounding North Korea is the financial sanctions against the illegal activities of North Korea. North Korea has pressured China with nuclear experiments.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill, U.S representative of the six-party talks, is to have stayed in Beijing for a week from the 4th. It seems that during the visit period China will explain to him about the way to make North Korea return to the six-party talks.
However, in principle the U.S is not likely to concede the lift of financial sanctions because it is a legal matter and under the U.S constitutions. Thus the ultimate problem is how China will persuade and attract North Korea to the six-party talks. If China is successful about this, the relations between NK-China will improve as well. On the other hand, if China is not successful, the relations between the two will be aggravated. The future movement of China is attracting an attention.
