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Opinion
Why timing may be right for China to press North Korea on denuclearisation
As optimism grows over an end to the Ukraine war, a weakening of Moscow’s support for Pyongyang may give Beijing new leverage to stabilise the Korean peninsula
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Dr. Chan Young Bang is the founder and president of KIMEP University, principal investigator at the DPRK Strategic Research Centre, and a former economic adviser to Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first President of Kazakhstan.
The Ukraine war and Donald Trump’s return to the White House have significantly altered northeast Asia’s geopolitical landscape. North Korea’s defence treaty with Russia and leader Kim Jong-un’s decision to deploy troops to support Moscow have shattered any remaining illusions of strategic restraint.
While Russia is believed to be supplying North Korea with finance and technology, Japan and South Korea are accelerating military spending and preparing for long-term confrontation, potentially – albeit distant and fraught with difficulties – developing nuclear capabilities.
These dynamics create acute regional instability and undermine China’s long-term objectives. The time has come for Beijing to make Kim an offer he cannot refuse, to take the initiative and launch a bold plan that can bring much-needed peace and stability to the peninsula while consolidating China’s position as the region’s prominent power.
China’s strategic objectives on the Korean peninsula are grounded in long-term regional stability and national interests rather than ideology or reactive politics.
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