Ex-unification minister casts doubts on China’s role in North Korean nuclear issue
- Park Jae-kyu questioned if China would live up to expectations by playing a constructive role in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue
- Ex-South Korean unification minister said there is little Beijing can do and it has little interest in supporting the US in dealing with North Korea
Amid escalating nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, China’s role has come to the fore given Beijing is regarded as the only country that can exert influence on Pyongyang thanks to its billing as the reclusive state’s sole economic pipeline and diplomatic guardian.
Its accentuated role was evidenced by US President Joe Biden’s call on his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during their first face-to-face meeting in Indonesia, last month, to take proper steps to de-escalate military tensions exacerbated by the Kim Jong-un regime.
However, Kyungnam University President Park Jae-kyu, a former South Korean unification minister, questioned if China would live up to those expectations by playing a constructive role in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, saying that there is little that Beijing can do and it has little interest in supporting the United States in dealing with North Korea.
“A distinction must be made between whether China is in such a position to apply pressure and whether it can actually do something even if it is in such a position,” Park said in an interview with The Korea Times, on Thursday.
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“Looking at the results of the US-China and ROK-China summits on the occasion of the recent G20 meeting, China does not seem to be in a position to put pressure on North Korea.”