Amid growing pressure, high-ranking North Korean official visits China

Posted on : 2017-03-01 13:35 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
North Korean Vice Minister Ri Kil-song in China for five days to discuss international and regional issues of shared interest
North Korean Vice Minister Ri Kil-song gets into a car after arriving at Beijing Capital International Airport
North Korean Vice Minister Ri Kil-song gets into a car after arriving at Beijing Capital International Airport

A high-ranking North Korean government official is visiting China, amid growing international pressure on Pyongyang over nuclear and missile testing and its implication in the killing of Kim Jong-nam.

At a regular briefing on Feb. 28, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang announced that North Korean Vice Minister Ri Kil-song would be arriving in China that day for a five-day visit at the invitation of the Chinese government, with plans to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin during his stay.

Kyodo News, Phoenix Television, and other news outlets reported that Ri arrived the same day at Beijing Capital International Airport and met with Chinese government officials in the VIP lounge before boarding a waiting Chinese government vehicle to downtown Beijing. The China visit by a senior North Korean official for purposes other than transit is the first in the nine months since Korean Workers’ Party vice chairperson Ri Su-yong’s in May and June 2016.

Geng explained that Ri would be meeting with Chinese government officials to “exchange opinions on China-North Korea relations and international and regional issues of shared interest.” While specifics remain unclear, analysts said the operation of bilateral diplomatic channels suggested the meeting was prompted by Pyongyang’s needs. Traditionally, regular interchange in North Korea-China relations have tended to be processed through party channels, while diplomatic channels have been used for communication when one side visits the other according to necessity.

“Recently, there have been a number of cases that Pyongyang wants to explain to Beijing about, including the Kim Jong-nam killing and the blanket suspension on North Korean coal imports,” explained a Beijing diplomatic source.

In that sense, China’s attitude is also notable. It has remained cautious on Kim’s killing, refraining from criticisms of Pyongyang and stating only that it has been “observing related reports.” And while most have predicted it cannot resume coal imports because the ban on them was instituted according to a UN Security Council resolution, there is a possibility that North Korea will request a breakthrough in some other area.

With Beijing announcing that Ri was invited to visit, analysts are also suggesting a possible message of warning from China to South Korea and the US after the latter concluded their negotiations on a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system deployment site on Feb. 27. China’s Global Times and other outlets have previously called for full-scale reconsideration of Beijing’s participation in sanctions against North Korea as a retaliatory measure after Seoul and Washington’s THAAD deployment decision last July.

Beijing has insisted that the THAAD deployment decision was made in the context of US-China strategy, while dismissing Seoul and Washington’s claims that it was intended as a response to the North Korean threat.

By Kim Oi-hyun, Beijing correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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