Comparative Connections v.11 n.3 - China-Korea Relations

North Korea’s missile tests in early July marked an apparent peak in its provocative behavior as Pyongyang shifted to a “charm offensive” strategy with a series of meetings between North Korea and the international community. Kim Jong-il’s encouraging statements regarding prospects for renewed multilateral and bilateral dialogue that “the DPRK is willing to attend multilateral talks, including the Six-Party Talks, based on the progress in the DPRK-U.S. talks” has set the stage for new engagement with North Korea. It remains to be seen if this engagement will lead to tangible North Korean actions in the direction of denuclearization. Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Hu Jintao both traveled to the U.S. in September for the G20 summit and UN General Assembly, where they met on the sidelines to discuss North Korea and other issues in their strategic cooperative partnership. While Lee noted China’s recent diplomatic outreach to North Korea, it is unclear whether Beijing is on board with Lee’s “grand bargain” proposal or has its own plans for dealing with North Korea.