Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA) has today reported that Wu Dawei, China’s representative to the Six-Party Talks, arrived in Pyongyang yesterday.
KCNA did not reveal the details of Wu’s schedule or his purpose in visiting the North Korean capital. However, North Korea has adopted a conciliatory stance of late in what is believed to be a strategic move to improve relations with China while putting cracks in the international sanctions regime against it. Against this backdrop, China may feel that it can reach a positive consensus with the North on a way forward for denuclearization; possibly by holding out the carrot of improved formal relations with Beijing.
Kim Kye Gwan, the North Korean foreign policy official who handles all negotiations on nuclear matters, last visited China in June this year, whereupon he met Wu and Zhang Yesui, China’s Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs. At the time Kim expressed North Korea’s desire for various types of dialogue, including the Six-Party Talks.
