China’s View on the Announcement of Inter-Korean Agreement

No. 2018-14 (March 8, 2018)

Chung Jae Hung (Research Fellow, the Sejong Institute)

jameschung@sejong.org

The strained inter-Korean relations took a new turn with the South Korean delegation headed by national security advisor Chung Eui-yong announcing the terms of an agreement with North Korea after the visit to North Korea – the terms include holding the third inter-Korean summit in late April, setting up a hotline between South and North Korean leaders, bringing up the issue of denuclearization as an agenda, suspending additional nuclear test and missile launches by North Korea, among others. Especially as Kim Jong-un expressed that the goal of denuclearization is dying wish of his forefathers and there is no reason to stock nuclear weapons if the military threat against North Korea is dispelled and the safety of the regime is guaranteed, the agreement created positive conditions and atmosphere to discuss the denuclearization issue and the normalization of DPRK-U.S. relations.

Immediately after the terms were announced, China issued a statement in the name of Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang, indicating “China has noted that the visit of the ROK President's Special Delegation to the DPRK has achieved positive outcomes and we welcome this” and hoping “that the DPRK and the ROK can earnestly implement the relevant consensus and continue with their efforts to advance reconciliation and cooperation.” Chinese state media also urged resumption of DPRK-U.S. talks and U.S. change of attitude based on the successful inter-Korean meeting. China’s state mouthpiece Huanqiu Shibao (Global Times in English) reported that while it welcomes the advancement of inter-Korean relations with open arms, several issues such as the difference of opinion between South Korea and the U.S. and North Korea and the U.S. and the misperception that U.S.-led sanctions on North Korea compelled North Korea to change its attitude should be overcome. The Xinhua News Agency also emphasized that the North Korean nuclear issue could not be solved with a single wheel and the countries concerned should actively create an environment so that the inter-Korean talks could lead to DPRK-U.S. talks.

Meanwhile, Spokesperson Zhang Yesui at the National People’s Congress press conference on March 4 said, “China expects the ROK-DPRK ties to roll on while the DPRK-U.S. ties will begin to roll as soon as possible” to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. He added that China will only solve the Korean Peninsula issue by political and diplomatic means under the three principles of: denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula; peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula; resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue by dialogue and negotiations. He, again, urged dialogue and negotiations through the ‘suspension-for-suspension’ and ‘dual track approaches, the resolution that China constantly propounded, reminding that no side benefits from war and chaos on the Korean Peninsula. Currently, most Chinese experts claim that only ‘deeds and trust’ such as suspending ROK-U.S. joint military exercises and revoking hostile policy against North Korea, and not words could be the starting point to solve the North Korean nuclear issue and draw China’s substantial participation and cooperation, disentangled from the existing approach of sanctions and pressure.

As Beijing has participated actively in the sanctions regime against North Korea, it also urged Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo to actively support the suspension-for-suspension and dual track approaches to alleviate tensions on the Korean Peninsula and resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. As it is well known, China views the animosity between North Korea and the U.S. as the fundamental cause that instigated the North Korean nuclear problem. Hence, the Chinese perceive that the North Korean nuclear problem is impossible to be solved once and for all without the change of antagonistic perception on North Korea, normalization of DPRK-U.S. relations, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and the establishment of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. In the recent Munich Security Conference, Fu Ying, chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of China’s National People's Congress, asserted that genuine peace on the Korean Peninsula is unviable without the resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue, which could only be untangled by direct talks between North Korea and the U.S. She added that the sanctions on North Korea are means, not a goal, to solve the nuclear issue, and that a zero-sum approach that does not take others’ security into account will never resolve the issue. Finally, she suggested a common security approach that relieves North Korea’s security concerns as well as others.

Furthermore, at the ROK-China summit last December, the two countries agreed on four principles related to the Korean Peninsula issue based on mutual trust which are beneficial to solving the issue: war should never break out on the Korean Peninsula; the relevant parties should comply with the principle of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula; the relevant issues including the North Korea’s denuclearization should be peacefully resolved by means of dialogue and negotiations; and improvement of inter-Korean relations ultimately contributes to defusing Korean Peninsula issues. This clearly indicates that there is a common ground between the Moon administration’s two-stage approach – beginning the dialogue with ‘nuclear freeze’ and ending up with ‘denuclearization’ and China’s ‘suspension-for-suspension’ and ‘dual track’ approach. Particularly, the Moon administration assured China’s active participation in its ‘peace first’ initiative. In addition, as the two countries agreed on the principle of no war on the Korean Peninsula, China is expected to continue to champion and contribute to the Moon Jae-in administration’s principle of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. In conclusion, China perceived that this announcement of the inter-Korean agreement will contribute to fostering the agreeable atmosphere to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations and extricating from the existing approach of sanctions and pressure against North Korea.

Evidently, despite this inter-Korean agreement, as numerous challenges need to be overcome, it is high time to take various measures to ameliorate not only inter-Korean relations but also DPRK-U.S. relations so as to maintain and further the positive and cordial mood. Therefore, there should be multilateral consultative mechanisms such as ROK-U.S.-China trilateral talks, ROK-DPRK-U.S.-China quadrilateral talks, and six-party talks in place. Furthermore, to elicit China’s active support and role, the South Korean government should take ‘suspension-for-suspension’ and ‘dual track’ approach seriously. Seoul should make more bold attempts and efforts to lead the improvement and development of relations with Pyongyang, the relationship between North Korea and the U.S. and North Korea and China and the preparations for an unprecedented inflection point in the process of solving the North Korean nuclear issue under the principle of peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula.

※Translator’s note: This is an unofficial translation of the original paper which was written in Korean. All references should be made to the original paper.