On July 26, 2016, the 21st Colloquium of the year took place at the Sejong Institute on the subject of “China’s Sanctions against North Korea and Trends in China-North Korea Trade.” In this Colloquium moderated by Seong-chang Cheong, Director of the Department of Unification Strategy Studies, Un-Chul Yang, our Vice President, presented on Chinese perceptions on economic sanctions against North Korea and current status of trade between the two countries. He also explained the causality between North Korea’s export of mineral resources to China and imports of daily necessity goods from China, and evaluated its implications on South Korea. In the next session, Moon-soo Yang, Professor at University of North Korean Studies, and Hyoungsoo Zang, Professor at Hanyang University, commented on the impact of international sanctions on China-North Korea trade.

Dr. Un-Chul Yang pointed out that China is participating in the international sanction against North Korea but also utilizing its political circumstances and strategic ambiguities. He emphasized that since China may pressure ROK instead of DPRK and ‘dilute’ the sanctions on the pretext of THAAD deployment in the South, it is necessary to convince China that the THAAD is only a problem between the US and ROK, and to strengthen public diplomacy against China regarding the importance of ROK-China relationship and North Korea sanctions.