hankyoreh

Fushun Prefecture

By Park Min-hee

North Korea and China are engaged in close discussions to address the crash of a North Korean fighter jet in northeast China’s Liaoning Province.

On Wednesday, the day after the crash, China issued an unusually prompt report through Xinhua News stating, “The plane that crashed was a North Korean fighter, and China is currently discussing the issue with North Korea.”

In the wake of the report, a vehicle from the North Korean general consulate in Shenyang arrived Wednesday evening at the scene of the crash in Lagu Township, Fushun Prefecture, Liaoning Province, and a deputy secretary in the Chinese Foreign Ministry also reportedly left for Shenyang. Sources reported that Chinese authorities dismantled the wreckage of the North Korean plane Thursday morning and removed it from the crash site.

Foreign affairs sources predicted that the reason the pilot left North Korea and entered Chinese air space, as well as the cause of the crash, would very likely remain “unsolved mysteries,” as they represent awkward and sensitive issues for China and North Korea. After removing the wreckage, Chinese authorities reportedly secured the crash site and issued a “gag order” on the residents of surrounding areas. Surprisingly, it was Chinese Netizens who first reported the crash by posting two photographs of the scene. Both have since been taken down.

China’s People’s Liberation Army has been under fire from critics charging that its air defense network contains holes, as it was unable to detect the entry of the North Korean fighter into territorial air space. Noting that the Chinese Air Force was not mobilized until the North Korean plane, which lacks stealth capabilities, had flown some 150km into Chinese territory, amid a situation where South Korea and the U.S. are preparing for military exercises in the West Sea, Chinese military experts and Netizens are contending that the air defense network was breached. As the fighter that crashed was an MiG-21 capable of flying at speeds of 2,100km/h, it has been estimated that it violated Chinese air space for a period of five to 15 minutes.

Experts predicted that the incident was unlikely to have a major effect on North Korea-China relations. The two nations have been stepping up their solidarity amid heightened tensions around the Korean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Thursday that Wu Dawei, the Chinese government’s special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs, had visited North Korea from Aug. 16 to 18 to exchange views with North Korea on preserving the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and resuming the six-party talks. During the visit, Wu met individually with North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun, Workers‘ Party International Department Director Kim Yong-il, and Vice Foreign Ministers Kim Kye-gwan and Kim Song-gi.

Analysts say that with this visit, China appears to have initiated measures in earnest to shift the current state of antagonism into negotiation mode, following the sinking of the Cheonan and the South Korea-U.S. joint military drills. They view it as a possibility that while meeting with North Korean officials during his visit, Wu may have suggested a North Korea-U.S. meeting as a preliminary move for resuming the six-party talks and explored North Korea’s opinions on this possibility.

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