Although Beijing helped tone down its rhetoric by advocating mentioning the peninsula rather than the North in particular, it was enough to anger its neighbor, one analyst said.
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“It’s remarkable that North Korea criticized a joint that China had accepted, even after Beijing helped dilute the whole,” said Patricia Kim of the Brookings Institution in the United States.
The North Korean flag flies over its embassy in Beijing on May 6, 2010. North Korea’s rare blow to China this week underscored how Beijing and Pyongyang are not in complete agreement over the latter’s arsenal of illicit nuclear weapons, despite close ties in other areas. South Korean analysts and officials said. (PETER PARKS/AFP Getty Images)
In their remarks, the three countries “reiterated their positions on regional peace and stability and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” but unlike the last such statements in 2019 and before, they engaged in further denuclearization.
Since foreign negotiations with the United States and other countries stalled in 2019, North Korea has had to reject the concept of a definitive abandonment of its nuclear weapons.
“This is North Korea’s position underscoring its position that any diplomatic rhetoric suggesting that Pyongyang eventually denuclearize is unacceptable,” said Tong Zhao, a nuclear energy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“After enshrining its nuclear prestige in the constitution and rebuking those who question it, North Korea seeks formal popularity abroad as a nuclear-armed country. “
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Asked about the North’s complaint at a press briefing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said “China’s basic position on the Korean Peninsula factor remains unchanged,” although he mentioned denuclearization.
A South Korean Foreign Ministry official said there were significant differences of opinion on the North Korean factor among the three countries present at the summit, adding that China had used the term “denuclearization” since last year.
“Given the existing geopolitical situation, I think it would be difficult to get China to agree to anything like previous agreements on the issue,” the official told a news conference.
But the discussions cautioned that despite weaker language, China’s fundamental position on denuclearization had not changed, the official added, calling the formal use of the term “significant. “
China is North Korea’s only military best friend and, through it, its largest trading partner.
North Korea’s failed release of a spy satellite just hours after the Seoul summit is no coincidence and should be seen as part of its message to China, wrote researcher Rachel Minyoung Lee.
“Relations between the North and China appear to be cooling over the past year, but this is the first time in recent years that symptoms of unease have emerged,” he wrote in a report for the Washington-based 38 North program.
Kim Brookings said the North’s moves showed that its ties with China were not as warm as the outside thinks.
“Although the two sides have maintained a steady speed in official exchanges and Beijing continues to protect Pyongyang from foreign pressure, long-standing mutual suspicions and formation. . . they restrict the intensity of their lineup,” he said.
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Now that Pyongyang has strengthened its ties with Russia, it will most likely feel that it has greater influence in its relations with China and can show less deference to it, he added.
The Washington-based Zhao said China has some reservations about deepening military cooperation between the North and Russia, which could undermine Beijing’s near-monopoly of influence over Pyongyang.
China is also careful to give the impression of a de facto alliance between Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang that may run counter to practical cooperation with major Western countries, he added.
But the North’s grievances necessarily involve the development of disorders in its relations with China, Zhao said.
“The bilateral relationship between China and North Korea seems to be moving at a slow and steady pace toward greater cooperation,” he added.