For the first time in seven years, the leaders of North Korea and China held a summit in Pyongyang, but they remained silent on the issue of denuclearization. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has long stressed the importance of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, did not mention the North Korean nuclear issue even once during this summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. North Korea's Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday that the two leaders defined North Korea-China relations as "a new milestone in the development of strategic cooperative relations" and declared an all-around expansion of cooperation.
At the summit with Kim the previous day, Xi said, "China-North Korea relations stand at a new historical starting point," and added, "We must strengthen exchanges in diplomacy, law enforcement, and the military, and faithfully implement the important agreements reached to pool our capabilities for the development of both countries." In response, Kim said, "I will make the development of North Korea-China relations the nation's top strategic project." On the Taiwan issue, which China regards as a core interest, he stressed, "North Korea will consistently adhere to the 'One China' principle."
What is particularly concerning about this summit is that Xi emphasized only military exchanges without mentioning the "Korean Peninsula issue" or denuclearization. This stands in contrast to the 2019 Pyongyang summit, when Xi referred to the Korean Peninsula issue nine times. Instead, he stated, "Both sides must firmly support each other's national sovereignty." Considering that North Korea has long defined its nuclear possession as a matter of sovereignty, some interpret this as a sign that China may have shifted its position toward effectively tolerating North Korea's nuclear weapons.
North Korea is openly moving to use the favorable environment with neighboring powers—the close alignment among North Korea, China, and Russia—to establish its status as a nuclear power as a fait accompli with the United States. North Korea-China relations also appear to be evolving beyond a restoration of their past blood alliance into a relationship sharing strategic interests in checking the United States in Northeast Asia. For South Korea, constantly exposed to North Korea's nuclear threat, these changes must be closely watched, and thorough preparations must be made for their impact on the Northeast Asian situation. If China shifts its position to one of tolerating North Korea's nuclear weapons, denuclearization negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang will inevitably become even more difficult. The government must mobilize all of its diplomatic capabilities to prevent the worst-case scenario of North Korea attaining nuclear-power status, and must manage relations so that any improvement in ties with the North does not become a pretext for a rift between Seoul and Washington. Above all, it must firmly uphold the principle of denuclearization based on coordination between South Korea and the United States.
