North Korean Attitudes Toward China: A Historical View of Contemporary Difficulties

Join panelists as they examine the history of the alliance between China and North Korea and its limits.

Organized by the North Korea International Documentation Project and the Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention at the United States Institute of Peace, in cooperation with the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States

Event Details

Amid ongoing concerns over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, China and North Korea are celebrating the "Year of Sino-DPRK Friendship," commemorating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Despite recent strains in the relationship in the wake of North Korea’s 2006 nuclear test, most observers believe that China, as the DPRK’s largest trading partner and main source of food and fuel aid, still enjoys more leverage over Pyongyang than any other nation. While the two countries do have a long historical relationship--it was China who intervened and bailed out North Korea in 1950--there have been serious challenges to the "lips and teeth" alliance throughout the past six decades.

As newly obtained documents from the archives of North Korea’s former communist allies suggest, the alliance could best be described as uneasy. Based on these new materials, panelists Jin Linbo, John Park, James Person, and Bernd Schaefer will examine the history of the alliance and its limits; instances when Beijing attempted to use its leverage to influence North Korean political, economic, and military decisions; and North Korea’s likely response to contemporary Chinese efforts to effect denuclearization on the peninsula.

Panelists

Jin Linbo, Visiting Fellow, Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, The Brookings Institution

John S. Park, Senior Research Associate (Northeast Asia), Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention, United States Institute of Peace

James F. Person, Coordinator, North Korea International Documentation Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Amb. J. Stapleton Roy, Director, Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Bernd Schaefer, Senior Scholar, Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Amb. Richard Solomon, President, United States Institute of Peace

Agenda

2:30-2:35pm
-Amb. Richard Solomon: Introductory Remarks
-Amb. Stapleton Roy: Moderator

2:35 - 3:00pm
-James Person: "Challenges to the 'Lips and Teeth' Alliance: Contemporary Lessons from Sixty Years of Sino-DPRK Relations"

3:00 - 3:20pm
-Bernd Schaefer: "North Korea and China: Flashpoints of an Uneven Relationship"

3:20 - 3:40pm
-John Park: "The Contemporary Korean Workers' Party-Chinese Communist Party Relationship: How Pyongyang Does What It Can and Beijing Suffers What It Must"

3:40 - 4:00pm
-Jin Linbo: Discussant

4:00 - 4:30pm
-Question & Answer