Chinese President Xi Jinping returned to Beijing on Tuesday after concluding a two-day state visit to North Korea, a move seen as consolidating Beijing's influence over Pyongyang. According to former spokesperson of South Korea's Ministry of Unification, Chung Joon-hee, strengthening China-North Korea relations is of absolute benefit to Beijing: by courting Pyongyang—which is growing closer to Moscow—China can 'deter Russia' and consolidate its core interests in regional affairs, while also drawing U.S. attention toward issues such as the war in Iran.
Chung Joon-hee is currently an auditor at the Korea Institute for National Unification, a government-funded think tank. In an interview with Hong Kong's Ming Pao on Tuesday, he analyzed that if conflict were to break out in the Taiwan Strait, North Korea could use its nuclear capability to deter the United States on Beijing's behalf.
Economically, a good China-North Korea relationship also secures China's access to the Sea of Japan, which helps promote economic development in the northeastern region. The lower Tumen River forms the border between Russia and North Korea, with China having no actual maritime outlet in the area.
Chung believes that for North Korea, improving ties with China is crucial for weakening international sanctions; by leveraging its close relationship with Russia, this visit also indicates Beijing’s tacit acceptance of Pyongyang’s nuclear program. If North Korea forges stable ties with both China and Russia, its international political standing will also be strengthened.
When Xi Jinping visited North Korea for the first time in 2019, he expressed 'support for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.' By contrast, his latest visit did not mention denuclearization—a point noted in Seoul.
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Il said at a press briefing on Tuesday that the ministry believes China’s position remains unchanged, but also noted that Beijing has recently rarely used the term 'denuclearization' in external communications. 'Against this backdrop, the (South Korean) government may communicate with the Chinese side through diplomatic channels to understand China’s position on North Korean denuclearization.'