North Korea commences solidifying ties with China

North Korea is showing signs of strengthening ties with China, in an apparent bid to strengthen its bargaining position before it talks to or confronts the U.S., both of which the North should be prepared for its leader Kim Jong-un said earlier this month.

According to Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency, Wednesday, the International Liaison Department (ILD) of the Chinese Communist Party hosted a joint meeting with officials from the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Monday, to celebrate the third anniversary of Kim’s visit to China and the second anniversary of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the North.

During the meeting, Song Tao, director of the ILD, stressed that the friendship between Beijing and Pyongyang will carry on for generations to last forever and mutual visits have brought new vitality to their relations, the agency reported.

On Monday, the KCNA reported the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang held a photo exhibition to mark the anniversary of Xi’s visit, with North Korean officials attending the event — again to stress their close ties.

The same day, Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Li Jinjun contributed an op-ed piece to the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, while Ri Ryong-nam, the North’s ambassador to China, contributed a piece to the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party.

The increased activities come after North Korean leader Kim stressed that the regime should be prepared for both “dialogue” and “confrontation” with the U.S., during a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, June 17.

Kim’s comments were originally interpreted by some to mean the North holds the intention to engage in talks with the U.S., in response to the Joe Biden administration’s efforts to bring Pyongyang forward for discussions. Earlier this week, Sung Kim, U.S. special envoy for North Korea, visited Seoul and said Washington would hold talks with Pyongyang “anywhere, anytime without preconditions.”

Though Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North’s leader Kim, crushed any immediate hope of dialogue by saying Washington had the “wrong” expectations for talks, U.S. Department of State spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday, that her comments “have not changed our view on diplomacy.”

With little hope for talks between the U.S. and North Korea anytime soon, experts said Pyongyang’s recent moves to enhance ties with China are interpreted as an effort to strengthen its bargaining position before agreeing to engage in dialogue, by taking advantage of the competition between Washington and Beijing.

“When the U.S. strengthens its efforts to contain China, North Korea’s geopolitical value grows,” said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification. “The U.S. is dealing with the North Korea issue within the framework of their dialogue, but China is seeing North Korea as leverage against the U.S. strategy to contain it. From the North’s perspective, enhancing ties with China is also an effective tool to accomplish its conditions for talks with the U.S.”

Hong stressed that Kim Jong-un’s comment during the Workers’ Party meeting shows he is relying on such a tactic. During the meeting, Kim said the North would conduct its foreign policy in accordance with the international and regional political landscape, implying that the regime will exploit its geopolitical value in the competition between the U.S. and China.

Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, also said North Korea’s recent moves were a strategy to gain influence before any talks with the U.S.

“During the Group of Seven Summit earlier this month, member countries exerted pressure on both China and North Korea,” Park said. “This has driven both Beijing and Pyongyang to join forces to stand up against that pressure.”

In a G7 Summit communique, member countries directly raised issue with China, citing anti-market policies and human rights abuses. Also, the members called for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the verifiable and irreversible abandonment by North Korea of its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.

“Kim Yo-jong’s recent comment, however, also show that North

Korea wants to have a dialogue that serves its interests,” Park said. “By showing off strengthened ties with China, the North will seek to find diplomatic leverage and room to withstand growing pressure from the U.S.”

Against this backdrop, anticipation is growing that Kim Jong-un may visit China around July 11, when Beijing and Pyongyang will renew their Mutual Aid and Cooperation Friendship Treaty. Experts say this is a big enough reason for Kim to visit China, but warn that this too is uncertain due to realistic concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic situation.