Expert's take on Kim Jong-un's third visit to China
- 6 years ago
김정은 세번째 방북 통해 얻으려는 것? 경제 제재 완화 할 수 있을까?
We start things off with Kim Jong-un's visit to China.
The third one in less than three months.
The leader is expected to have left Beijing Wednesday afternoon,... according to the Associated Press.
Clearly the two, long-time allies are proving to the world their friendship is still iron-clad.
But the meeting is sure to have centered around more than just reaffirming ties.
Lee Ji-won has our top story.
Just a week after his historic summit with the U.S. President, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has once again visited the North's close ally China for two days, starting Tuesday.
Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping's previous two summits came just a few days before Kim's meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And with more negotiations for follow-up measures to the North Korea-U.S. summit to take place soon, experts say Kim could be preparing for them with his Chinese counterpart.
Others pointed at the delegates that accompanied Kim to China,... including Cabinet Premier Pak Pong-ju and Pak Thae-song, the party's Vice Chairman for Science and Education.
"By having these officials see China and learn from it, Kim could be hoping to emulate Beijing's reforms and open up his own country's economy. He could also be seeking to launch joint projects with China."
In fact, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, the North Korean leader, on Wednesday, is expected to have visited Beijing's Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
But the expert says the main reason for Kim's visit to China is to seek a reduction of Beijing's economic sanctions towards Pyongyang.
Kim himself said at the ruling party's policy gathering in April that North Korea will now shift its focus from developing nuclear weapons to developing its economy.
"There will need to be more time and concrete steps from the North before the U.S. can reduce its pressure. But Kim needs to make his people feel some amount of economic revitalization before the regime's major political events in months to come, so it's likely that Kim asked President Xi to show some flexibility in implementing sanctions on the regime."
But it is unclear whether the sanctions on the North will be eased.
Secretary Pompeo reportedly told South Korea's foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha in their phone call on Monday, that China had agreed to fully implementing the Security Council's sanctions on North Korea.
The U.S. State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert also said at a briefing on Tuesday that the U.S. looks forward to China continuing its support for the world's 'maximum pressure' policy.
To this, the expert says, while sanctions will "officially" be implemented, both the U.S. and China could, to some extent, turn a blind eye to this, as the U.S. does not have a good enough reward for the North's denuclearization steps as of now and tight monitoring could freeze the current momentum.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
We start things off with Kim Jong-un's visit to China.
The third one in less than three months.
The leader is expected to have left Beijing Wednesday afternoon,... according to the Associated Press.
Clearly the two, long-time allies are proving to the world their friendship is still iron-clad.
But the meeting is sure to have centered around more than just reaffirming ties.
Lee Ji-won has our top story.
Just a week after his historic summit with the U.S. President, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has once again visited the North's close ally China for two days, starting Tuesday.
Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping's previous two summits came just a few days before Kim's meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And with more negotiations for follow-up measures to the North Korea-U.S. summit to take place soon, experts say Kim could be preparing for them with his Chinese counterpart.
Others pointed at the delegates that accompanied Kim to China,... including Cabinet Premier Pak Pong-ju and Pak Thae-song, the party's Vice Chairman for Science and Education.
"By having these officials see China and learn from it, Kim could be hoping to emulate Beijing's reforms and open up his own country's economy. He could also be seeking to launch joint projects with China."
In fact, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, the North Korean leader, on Wednesday, is expected to have visited Beijing's Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
But the expert says the main reason for Kim's visit to China is to seek a reduction of Beijing's economic sanctions towards Pyongyang.
Kim himself said at the ruling party's policy gathering in April that North Korea will now shift its focus from developing nuclear weapons to developing its economy.
"There will need to be more time and concrete steps from the North before the U.S. can reduce its pressure. But Kim needs to make his people feel some amount of economic revitalization before the regime's major political events in months to come, so it's likely that Kim asked President Xi to show some flexibility in implementing sanctions on the regime."
But it is unclear whether the sanctions on the North will be eased.
Secretary Pompeo reportedly told South Korea's foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha in their phone call on Monday, that China had agreed to fully implementing the Security Council's sanctions on North Korea.
The U.S. State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert also said at a briefing on Tuesday that the U.S. looks forward to China continuing its support for the world's 'maximum pressure' policy.
To this, the expert says, while sanctions will "officially" be implemented, both the U.S. and China could, to some extent, turn a blind eye to this, as the U.S. does not have a good enough reward for the North's denuclearization steps as of now and tight monitoring could freeze the current momentum.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.