Beijing wants Washington to seriously consider recent peace overtures from North Korea. Shannon Tiezzi writing for The Diplomat, January 17, 2015, considers that the U.S. should seriously consider offers of dialogue from North Korea in order to bring an end to decades of tension on the Korean peninsula, as an op-ed in China’s official news outlet argued on Friday. The Xinhua commentary urged Washington to take advantage of North Korea’s “unusual willingness” to hold talk with both the U.S. and South Korea.
The writer also quotes analysts who noted renewed outreach from North Korea to both Russia and Japan over 2014, possibly driven by uncertainty about continuing support from China, the Kim regime’s usual backer. This year, the Xinhua commentary predicts, North Korea will expand its beckoning to include the U.S. and South Korea, the idea largely based on recent signs that North Korea is actively seeking to resume dialogue with both of those countries.
Shannon Tiezzi noted that North Korea’s Kim paid strong attention to improving inter-Korean relations in his New Year’s speech, in what Chung-in Moon, political science professor at Yonsei University, called a “noticeable shift.”
Kim suggested that a resumption of high-level talks was possible, up to and including a possible summit with South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Kim also floated the idea of a possible rapprochement in U.S.-DPRK relations, with Pyongyang placing a tempting temporary freeze on its nuclear tests in exchange for a halt to joint U.S.-South Korean military drills which is a perennial source of anxiety for Pyongyang.
For more see:
http://thediplomat.com/2015/01/china-urges-us-to-accept-north-koreas-olive-branch/
