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US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese Vice Premier He after signing the US-China phase one trade deal at the White House on Jan. 15. (AFP)

“China is helping us with North Korea,” US President Donald Trump said on Jan. 15, adding that “we’re going to be working very closely together on North Korea.” Trump apparently means to find a breakthrough in North Korea-US deadlock using his trade deal with China as leverage to secure cooperation from China, which maintains friendly relations with the North.

Trump made the comments during the signing ceremony for the US-China phase one trade agreement, held on Wednesday. Though it’s not apparent in the deal, he said, the Chinese “have been very, very helpful with respect to Kim Jong-un,” who, Trump added, “has great respect” for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“It’s all a very, very beautiful game of chess, or a game of poker,” Trump added.

Trump repeated himself in a luncheon with the Chinese delegation after the signing ceremony. “As I said inside [the signing venue], it’s like a world-class chess match or poker match. We are going to work together, and we’re going to work together for the benefit of our [two] countries, but also, very importantly, for the benefit of the world.”

Trump didn’t explain the precise meaning of his remark about a game of chess. But considering that this came up during the signing ceremony for the first phase trade agreement, one interpretation is that Trump was calling on China to remain a part of the sanctions bloc against North Korea in its future implementation of the trade deal and to help the US resume its negotiations with North Korea, now that China has more diplomatic resources at its disposal, following the relaxation of is trade dispute with the US.

In a related development, South Korean Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon, who arrived in the US on Jan. 15 for deliberations between the two countries’ chief envoys on the North Korean nuclear issue, said he would be discussing the issue of individual tourism to North Korea with the US. After reaching Dulles International Airport, near Washington, Lee said that tourism to North Korea “isn’t banned by UN Security Council sanctions per se” and said he “wants to try discussing this” with the US.

“The reason we’re making this effort right now is because we respect the current sanctions regime,” Lee said, in regard to the US’ continuing emphasis on implementing sanctions against North Korea. “We’re holding these deliberations in an attempt to open up more options while still fundamentally respecting the framework of the sanctions previously agreed upon by the international community.”

By Lee Jung-ae, staff reporter, and Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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