North Korea and China are accelerating their strategic alignment, using the Oct. 15 opening of the New Yalu River Bridge as a catalyst. Kim Jong Un, chairman of North Korea's State Affairs Commission, visited Dandong in China's Liaoning Province on the 24th, one day before the 76th anniversary of China's entry into the Korean War, and returned home the same day. It was his first trip to China in one year and one month, following his attendance at Beijing's military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory in World War II last September. On the Chinese side, Wang Huning, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the country's fourth-ranking official, traveled to Dandong to receive Kim. Analysts read the visit as serving multiple purposes: displaying the "blood alliance" between Pyongyang and Beijing, expanding economic cooperation, and signaling openness to a North Korea-U.S. summit.
The move was unconventional in several respects. The unannounced same-day trip appears designed to let Kim showcase his bargaining value amid the U.S.-China contest for primacy. He did not meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, but Beijing's leadership dispatched a senior figure to welcome him. Overland freight traffic between the two countries across the New Yalu River Bridge, which Kim used for the Dandong trip, is also expected to surge. That is worrying because United Nations sanctions on North Korea, already hollowed out by brisk economic exchanges with China and Russia, could become even more toothless.
While military and economic coordination among North Korea, China and Russia hardens, turbulence persists in the South Korea-U.S. alliance. Friction between the two countries continues over intelligence sharing on North Korea and the transfer of wartime operational control. The White House recently signaled displeasure toward Seoul, saying it hoped South Korea would "adhere to the standards of the alliance." With a North Korea-U.S. summit seen as possible by the end of this year, there is deep concern that Seoul could be sidelined by Pyongyang's strategy of engaging Washington while isolating South Korea.
As President Lee Jae-myung has said, "differences between countries are inevitable." The problem is that the discord between the two allies could move beyond ordinary disagreement into an erosion of trust. If the foundation of the alliance is shaken, not only South Korea's security but also its stable economic growth comes under threat. The government should treat the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China in November and the Group of 20 summit in the United States in December as opportunities to restore that trust. It is time to move quickly on a meticulous diplomatic strategy that resolves conflicts and narrows differences on pressing economic and security issues, with the national interest as the overriding principle.