China may not block US-NK diplomacy, but unlikely to play central role: ex-US diplomat

WASHINGTON — China may not block the resumption of diplomacy between the United States and North Korea but is unlikely to play a "central" role in their reengagement, a former senior U.S. diplomat said Thursday, ahead of the upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Daniel Kritenbrink, who served as assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs from 2021-25, made the comment in response to written questions from Yonhap News Agency, noting that Beijing will be "suspicious" of any significant thaw in the Washington-Pyongyang relations.

Trump and Xi are expected to have a summit in Washington, D.C., next Thursday, while Trump has expressed his intention to reengage with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this year.

"I would not expect China to block U.S.-DPRK diplomacy, and it may take certain limited steps to support it," Kritenbrink, now a partner at The Asia Group, a strategic advisory firm, said. DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"But Beijing will also be suspicious of any significant thaw in Washington-Pyongyang relations, so I would not expect China to be central to such diplomacy, if it does occur," he added.

The former diplomat said that China may welcome diplomacy between the U.S. and the North "to the extent it furthers stability on the Korean Peninsula," as the Asian major power has pursued a stable external environment on its periphery.

"But Beijing will also be suspicious of any Washington-Pyongyang rapprochement, so I would expect President Xi to remain cautious on the matter," he said.

Asked if Trump would seek Xi's help in his efforts to resume talks with Kim, Kritenbrink said that Trump may ask for China's "general" support, noting that he is not convinced that Trump needs Xi's help.

He expected Trump and Xi to discuss North Korea during their upcoming summit but expressed skepticism that there would be "significant areas of agreement."

Asked whether the two leaders would reaffirm their shared goal of North Korea's denuclearization, Kritenbrink said that he would not expect either side to change its longstanding positions on denuclearization.

"But as in Beijing, how both sides describe their positions publicly may differ," he pointed out.

Doubts have arisen over whether Trump and Xi would reiterate their commitment to the North's denuclearization, a sensitive issue for Pyongyang, as China apparently seeks to pull the North away from Russia amid deepening Pyongyang-Moscow alignment and Trump seeks to restart diplomacy with Kim.

Despite the reemerging prospects for dialogue between the U.S. and the North, Kritenbrink cast doubt over whether the recalcitrant regime is interested in it.

"What I can't tell is whether the DPRK has any interest in doing so, but I am somewhat skeptical, given Kim Jong-un's experience in the first Trump Administration, and the level of support he is now receiving from Russia and China," he said.

Last month, Trump said that he expects to have a meeting with Kim later this year, adding to speculation that he would resume his personal diplomacy with Kim, which led to three bilateral meetings: the first in Singapore in June 2018, the second in Hanoi in February 2019 and the last at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019.