N. Korea may feel heat from summit

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, right, together with ruling Saenuri Party lawmakers Chung Mong-joon, center, and Cho Won-jin, arrives at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday, before leaving for Beijing as part of the President Park Geun-hye’s entourage on her state visit to China. / Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo

The South Korea-China summit Thursday could mark a new era not just in the two countries’ relations but also a change in diplomatic priorities for Beijing, according to experts.

China is the only ally of North Korea with both sides claiming their relationship is sealed in blood because of the former’s intervention in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Xi Jin-ping, the new Chinese president who will lead the world’s economic juggernaut for the next 10 years, is striking a contrast to his predecessors ― Beijing under his leadership indirectly downgraded the bilateral relationship.

Xi’s summit with President Park Geun-hye was held before any meeting with Kim Jong-un, the young North Korean leader. Of course, Kim met Xi when his father, Kim Jong-il, died but then Hu Jintao was China’s president. No official schedule of a future meeting is available.

Kim took power in December 2011.

“It is a tradition that China holds a summit with the North ahead of the South. However, although it has been two years since the inception of the new regime in Pyongyang, there are no signs of an impending summit between China and North Korea,” said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korean studies professor at Dongguk University.

He said that the North’s third nuclear test in February angered the Chinese leadership.

In May, the cornered Kim sent special envoy Choe Ryong-hae, a vice marshal of the Korean People’s Army, to Beijing to deliver a personal letter to Xi, saying that it was willing to take active measures to rejoin the stalled six-party talks. Choe returned empty-handed.

In addition, First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan held “strategic talks” in Beijing with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui earlier this month.

It is the first time for China to call talks with the North “strategic,” which means the former is attempting to transform the relations from a blood alliance to normal inter-country ties.

“After Xi assumed office in November 2012, China’s attitude toward North Korea became clearly different, especially regarding its nuclear weapons. Beijing is interested in resolving the problem via trilateral strategic cooperation with Seoul and Washington,” Koh said.

Lee Se-ki, chairman of the Korea-China Friendship Association and former unification minister, said the North could be more seriously driven into a corner depending on the outcome of the summit.

“China currently puts more emphasis on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and has an obvious stance on the issue,” Lee said in an interview. “There will be a huge impact on the North if the summit bears fruit in managing the nuclear quagmire.”