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| Kim Jong Un’s special envoy visits China | | |
TOKYO: A key North Korean military official arrived in Beijing on Wednesday as a “special envoy” of leader Kim Jong Un, state-run media reported. The trip comes amid new signs of strain between the traditional allies.
Choe Ryong Hae, who holds several top Workers’ Party positions and serves as vice marshal of the Korean People’s Army, met with Wang Jiarui, a senior official of the Chinese Communist Party, according to China’s Xinhua news agency. Neither Beijing nor Pyongyang provided details of the meeting or indicated the length Choe’s stay.
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Choe’s visit marks the first trip to China by a high-level North Korean since last August and could signal an attempted detente after the North spent months stirring tensions in the region — and frustrating China. The North ignored China’s warnings not to carry out a February nuclear test. More recently, North Korea seized the crew of a Chinese fishing boat, holding them for more than two weeks while trying to extract a ransom.
Analysts say longtime allies Beijing and Pyongyang have increasingly different visions about how they should get along. The North prefers to test weapons and alarm its neighbors — while still collecting aid and investment from China. Beijing, however, prefers the North to be peaceful and compliant, and China has recently signaled a new willingness to pressure the North to change its behavior.
China supported United Nations Security Council sanctions after the February nuclear test. Earlier this month, the state-run Bank of China cut off dealings with North Korea’s primary foreign exchange bank, a conduit for funding the North’s weapons program.
Choe’s trip could be an effort to repair frayed ties, although the North’s government-controlled media did not explain the purpose of the visit.
Those who monitor the police state say Choe is among Kim Jong Un’s closest lieutenants. Since Kim took over as head of state following the death of his father in December 2011, Choe has received numerous high-profile titles, giving him power on par with Jang Song Thaek and Kim Kyong Hui, who are Kim’s aunt and uncle.
Through Choe’s visit to China, the United States and South Korea could gain some indirect insight about North Korea’s young leader and his interest in dialogue. President Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye both have scheduled summits in June with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Kim himself has not traveled to China since becoming North Korea’s leader.
In recent years, U.S. and South Korean officials have pressed China to place more pressure on North Korea to curb its weapons program.
The international community must speak to the North with “one voice,” Park said during her trip to Washington earlier this month. Countries must tell the North “that they have no choice but to change.” |
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