US, China show signs of change in N. Korea policies

Trump, Xi may have reached closed-door deal

By Yi Whan-woo

The United States is taking a softer stance on China over trade issues while Beijing is tightening the noose on Pyongyang, in what is seen as possibly a new strategy to tackle North Korea following a U.S.-China summit.

Reversing a campaign pledge, U.S. Presidential Donald Trump backed away from labeling China a “currency manipulator” after he met with President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on April 6 and 7.

On the Chinese side, Beijing turned back 20 million tons of coal from North Korea, and suspended sales of tour packages and flights of Air China to Pyongyang.

China also sent no high-ranking officials to Pyongyang’s giant military parade, Saturday, in an apparent snub to the young dictator Kim Jong-un. The parade was held to mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung.

Analysts said Monday that Trump and Xi are believed to have made a deal for the U.S. to tone down its anti-China rhetoric over Washington’s trade deficit with Beijing.

They said China, in return, appears to have promised to tighten the reins on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

“I’d say the U.S. is outsourcing the North Korea issue to China, because the cost of any U.S. military intervention, which Trump hinted at, and the repercussions would be too high,” said Koh You-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University.

He said that the Trump administration means to have China exercise leverage on North Korea at its highest level when he called his North Korea policy “maximum pressure and engagement.”

“China is undoubtedly North Korea’s biggest benefactor and the best way for the U.S. to put maximum pressure on and get maximum engagement with Pyongyang would be capitalizing on Beijing,” Koh said.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, claimed Trump and Xi may have agreed to link the U.S. trade deficit with China and North Korea-related issues for each other’s benefit.

“There must have been a closed-door deal over North Korea,” Yang said, citing that the two world leaders did not produce any tangible outcome in resolving Pyongyang’s military provocations at their summit.

The professor speculated that Trump kept mum over North Korea’s failed launch of a ballistic missile Sunday because “he is buying time for Xi to handle Kim Jong-un in line with their secret deal.”

The analysts said Trump and Xi may have struck a deal as well over the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea in regards to China’s role over North Korea.

A senior White House official, who is accompanying U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on his visit to South Korea, reportedly said Sunday that the installation of the THAAD battery should be determined by the next South Korean president. This view reflects China’s opposition to the deployment.

However, this is against a commitment reaffirmed by Seoul and Washington earlier this year to set up the anti-missile system before the May 9 presidential election in South Korea.

The measure was to rule out any possibilities of re-negotiation over THAAD by the next government here.

Yang predicted that the possible new strategy being employed by the U.S. and China may accelerate South Korea’s recent isolation in talks over North Korea.

“It’s even possible that Washington and Beijing may discuss a peace agreement with Pyongyang without Seoul if things go as they have planned,” he said. “With no dialogue channels with North Korea, South Korea will be isolated.”