North Korea walks tightrope between US and China

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, cancelled his planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, on May 24 over Pyongyang's "tremendous anger and open hostility." Kim remained low key over the decision, leaving the door open for the historic summit in a message entrusted to Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan on May 25. / AFP-Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo


North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to be pursuing balanced diplomacy between the United States and China in a bid to hold the summit with U.S. President Donald Trump while maintaining Pyongyang's decades-old alliance with Beijing.

During his surprise talks with President Moon Jae-in, May 26, Kim said he is committed to meeting with U.S. Preesident Donald Trump.

On May 25, Kim entrusted Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan with a message after Trump abruptly called off the summit scheduled for June 12 in Singapore.

Trump accused North Korea of "tremendous anger and open hostility" despite their agreement to hold the summit. He blamed China for North Korea's more bellicose approach toward the U.S. after Kim met Chinese President Xi Jinping for a second time this year in early May.

And in a statement carried by Pyongyang's state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Kye-gwan said his country "would like to make known to the U.S. side once again that we have the intent to sit with the U.S. side to solve problems regardless of ways at any time."

He said Washington's decision to cancel the talks demonstrated the extent of the animosity between the North and the U.S. and that leaders of the two countries desperately needed to meet to resolve the hostile relations.

He also said Kim Jong-un made all-out efforts to prepare for the summit with the U.S., saying his meeting with Trump would serve as a good start.

"The U.S. side's unilateral announcement of the cancellation of the summit makes us think over if we were truly right to have made efforts for it and to have opted for the new path," he said.

"We remain unchanged in our goal and will to do everything we can for peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and humankind, and we, broad-minded and open all the time, have the willingness to offer the U.S. side time and opportunity."

Pyongyang's reaction was seen as a surprise because it has rarely remained low key toward Washington.

Even during preparations for the summit, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui lashed U.S. Vice President Mike Pence for suggesting a Libya-style approach for denuclearizing North Korea.

"As for the tremendous anger and open hostility referred to by President Trump, it is just a reaction to the unbridled remarks made by the U.S. side, which has long pressed the DPRK unilaterally to scrap its nuclear program ahead of the DPRK-U.S. summit," Kim Kye-gwan said.

Pyongyang's harsh rhetoric toward Washington came after Kim Jong-un visited Dalian, China from May 7 to 8 and held his second summit with Xi.

The meeting surprised many people because it came only about 40 days after they met in Beijing.

The May summit was seen as Kim's bid to gain diplomatic leverage before his summit with Trump by showing off the Pyongyang-Beijing alliance.

Diplomatic sources speculated that North Korea may push for the removal of some or all of the 28,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, in line with Xi's demand.

China has been angling to retain its influence over North Korea amid the recent rapprochement between the two Koreas.

Kim did not ask for U.S. military forces to be withdrawn from the South when he met President Moon on April 27.


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