Chinese Foreign Minister’s Visit to North Korea
The official North Korean news agency, the Korean Central News Agency, said that Sun’s group got to Pyongyang, the capital, on Thursday after crossing the land border. The report didn’t say anything else about the meeting.
Chinese Foreign Minister’s Visit to North Korea: North Korea announced on Friday that Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong and a group of Chinese officials would be visiting. This is part of North Korea’s ongoing efforts to improve ties with Beijing and Moscow as tensions with the United States rise.
The official North Korean news agency, the Korean Central News Agency, said that Sun’s group got to Pyongyang, the capital, on Thursday after crossing the land border. The report didn’t say anything else about the meeting.
Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, has been trying to make its alliance with China and Russia more well-known. He is doing this to get out of diplomatic isolation and strengthen his position in the area by facing the US together.
In September, Kim went to Russia’s Far East for a rare meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Some experts think he is also likely trying to get a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
People are worried that Kim’s focus on his relationship with Russia could lead to an arms deal that helps Putin’s war in Ukraine. However, in recent months, the North Korean leader has also called top Chinese officials to important state events and promised to improve relations between the two countries. In September, just before Kim’s trip to Russia, a group of Chinese officials led by Vice Premier Liu Guozhong went to the events for North Korea’s 75th founding anniversary. In July, Kim called Li Hongzhong, a member of China’s ruling party, and Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, to a big military parade in Pyongyang. At the parade, Kim showed off his strongest missiles that could carry nuclear warheads and were aimed at the US, South Korea, and Japan. Last month, Sun met with Pak Myong Ho, the vice foreign minister of North Korea, in Beijing. They talked about improving relations between the two countries and working together on “issues of common interest.”
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Then Pak met with Wang Yi, the foreign minister of China. The two men promised to improve “strategic cooperation” and increase friendly exchanges in 2024, when the two countries will be celebrating their 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties.
As Sun traveled to North Korea, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser for the US, was planning to meet with Wang in Bangkok this week for the latest high-level talks between Washington and Beijing. These talks come at a time when trade, technology, and China’s aggressive foreign policy in the region are causing tensions.
China is North Korea’s main ally and economic lifeline. It is also a key partner for Kim in his efforts to fix an economy that has been badly run for decades and is now being hurt by US-led sanctions over his nuclear weapons and missile program, which he has boldly expanded in recent years even though he doesn’t have much money.
As permanent members of the UN Security Council, both China and Russia have fought against US-led attempts to put more sanctions on the North because it has been testing more weapons in recent months. This shows how divided the countries are over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Washington and Seoul have been asking Beijing to use its economic power over North Korea to help get Kim’s government to start talking about nukes again. These talks have been stuck since 2019 and need to get back on track.
A lot more trade is happening between North Korea and China now that North Korea eased its pandemic limits and reopened the border last year, according to experts.