By Kim Young-jin
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s current trip to China did not appear to be focused on securing economic aid, a Chinese expert said Tuesday, downplaying such speculation in South Korean media.
“Kim Jong-il handles strategy rather than administration,” said Xiyu Yang, senior research fellow at China Institute for International Studies, at a forum in downtown Seoul, adding that a lower-ranking official would be more appropriate for the job.
“I think the major purpose is not aimed at getting more aid but to survey China’s experience of economic reform.”
While Kim’s third trip to China in year has leaned heavily on sites related to China’s economic boom, media here have speculated he is shoring up aid from his biggest supporter amid reported food shortages.
Yang pointed to North Korean state media’s emphasis on the economy this year, starting in its New Year’s editorials, to show that the Kim regime could be mulling reform. “Even when tension was at its peak, the press remained focused on the economy,” he said.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said Kim was invited to help his regime learn about China's economic development and how to revitalize its own economy.
The expert, however, stressed the North was not likely to adopt “Chinese-style” reform. “They are in a totally different situation than China was in the early 1980’s,” he said.
The forum, co-organized by the Center for International Cooperation and Strategy and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, focused on the implications of China’s rise as a global power and it implications for the region.
Beijing’s own reforms helped launch China to become the world's second-largest economy. Previous trips to China have sparked the
mercurial Kim to experiment with reform, only to revert back to his military-first policy.