S. Korea-China summit may bring answer in dealing with N. Korea

President Park Geun-hye spoke to U.S. President Barack Obama on the phone on Monday about coordinating efforts with China to get North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons program. The call came just a day after Pyongyang proposed high-level talks with Washington.

The U.S. said North Korea must show concrete steps toward denuclearization before talks can resume, the Chosun Ilbo said in its editorial.

Pyongyang has been proposing talks first to Seoul and then to Washington, apparently because it is becoming obvious that Beijing is losing patience with its belligerent ally.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told visiting North Korean envoy Choe Ryong-hae last month that China "has a very clear position concerning the issue that all the parties involved should stick to the objective of denuclearization, safeguard the peace and stability on the peninsula, and resolve disputes through dialogue and consultation."

Xi later told Obama that China cannot recognize North Korea as a bona fide nuclear-armed state. North Korea probably has no choice now but to look for new alternatives.

The upcoming South Korea-China summit is a chance to finalize the basic framework of cooperation between the three countries in dealing with the North Korean nuclear standoff. It may be close to impossible to get the North to abandon its nuclear weapons simply with diplomatic pressure and dialogue, but China’s determination offers a glimmer of hope.

Seoul and Beijing are negotiating the inclusion of North Korean denuclearization among key agreements in a joint statement for Park and Xi.

Trade between South Korea and China has increased by more than $10 billion a year since Seoul and Beijing normalized diplomatic ties in 1992, but their diplomatic and military relations have lagged behind because China sees North Korea as a buffer against the Seoul-Washington alliance.

The recent shift in China's attitude toward North Korea is a huge step forward not only in Seoul-Beijing ties but for the future of the Korean Peninsula.

Park should use her meeting with Xi as an opportunity to forge a fresh partnership in dealing with the North. All the other items on the agenda should also be dealt with within this framework. The summit could open a whole new phase in dealing with North Korea's nuclear ambitions.