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North Korean Leader Sends Envoy to China North Korean Leader Sends Envoy to China
(about 1 hour later)
SEOUL, South Korea — The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, sent his first special envoy to China on Wednesday, the North’s state-run news agency reported, amid signs of strained ties between the two traditional allies, mainly over the North’s nuclear weapons development. SEOUL, South Korea — The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, sent his first special envoy to China on Wednesday, amid signs that Mr. Kim’s government was trying to mend strained ties with Beijing and was also seeking breaches in the tightening ring of economic and diplomatic pressure over its nuclear weapons development.
Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, who serves as director of the General Political Bureau of the North Korean People’s Army, is the first senior North Korean official to visit China since last August and the first to go there in the capacity as Mr. Kim’s special envoy. Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, who serves as director of the General Political Bureau of the North Korean People’s Army, is the first senior North Korean official to visit China since last August and the first to go there in the capacity as Mr. Kim’s special envoy. And it came as Japanese officials signaled a willingness Wednesday to open a greater dialogue with North Korea.
Mr. Choe, 63, was most likely the highest-profile envoy Mr. Kim could choose. He has risen to the top military leadership under Mr. Kim and is widely seen as having been one of his closest allies as the young, relatively inexperienced North Korean leader has struggled to consolidate his power at home while intensifying a standoff with Washington and its allies over his country’s nuclear and missile programs. North Korea has recently further rattled the region by firing six short-range projectiles into waters off its east coast since Saturday. Mr. Choe, 63, was most likely the highest-profile envoy Mr. Kim could choose tp visit China. He has risen to the top military leadership under Mr. Kim and is widely seen as having been one of his closest allies as the young, relatively inexperienced North Korean leader has struggled to consolidate his power at home while intensifying a standoff with Washington and its allies over his country’s nuclear and missile programs.
While reporting Mr. Choe’s departure for Beijing by plane, the Korean Central News Agency did not reveal his itinerary or the purpose of his trip. The state-run North Korean media also revealed Wednesday that Hyon Yong-chol, who had been in charge of the field operations of the North Korean military as chief of its general staff, has been replaced with Gen. Kim Kyok-sik. General Kim was dismissed as Minister of the People’s Armed Services earlier this month, and his unexpected return to a more powerful position was bound to rattle nerves in the region.
China is North Korea’s last remaining ideological ally and its single biggest trade partner and source of aid. The North’s economic dependence on China has only deepened in recent years as Washington and its allies have led efforts at the United Nations Security Council to tighten sanctions against the North for its long-range rocket and nuclear tests, including the underground detonation of a nuclear device in February. South Korean officials believed that the 74-year-old hard-line general commanded units responsible for attacks on South Korea in 2010 that killed 50 South Koreans.
As Washington increased pressure on China to help rein in the North’s nuclear ambitions, signs of friction have emerged between Beijing and Pyongyang, which, analysts said, have unnerved Mr. Kim. While reporting Mr. Choe’s departure for Beijing by plane, the Korean Central News Agency did not reveal his itinerary or purpose of his trip.
This month, the state-controlled Bank of China said it had ceased dealing with the North Korean Foreign Trade Bank, in what appeared to be a move supported by the Chinese government to show impatience with the North. Since then, other Chinese banks have taken similar steps, dealing a blow to the operation of the North Korean bank, which is a main channel of international financial transactions for the North. “The fact that Kim Jong-un sent a special envoy means that he has something quite regent to discuss with China, and the fact that his special envoy was his top military officer suggests that China wants to talk about the North’s nuclear and missile programs,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute in South Korea.
This week, another dispute erupted between the Communist allies when the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry called for the release of 16 Chinese fishermen and their vessel. They were seized May 5 in waters between the countries under unclear circumstances. If Mr. Choe’s trip is successful, it could lead to Kim Jong-un’s first state visit to Beijing, Mr. Cheong said. Although Kim Jong-un has met senior Chinese envoys sent to Pyongyang, he has never visited Beijing while serving as North Korean leader.
The North allowed the Chinese crew to return home with their vessel, the Chinese People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s main newspaper, reported on Tuesday, without clarifying whether North Korea received a payment, as it had demanded. One of the biggest challenges he faces was how to manage his country’s traditional ties with China, which analysts said have shown enough signs of friction to unnerve the North Korean leader.
China has long supported North Korea, despite disagreements over the North’s nuclear activities, and many Chinese experts see the North as a strategic shield against potential regional domination by the United States and its allies, South Korea and Japan. But in recent months, Chinese scholars and bloggers have openly expressed increasing impatience with North Korea over its nuclear weapons ambitions and threats to the region. As Washington has increased pressure on China to help rein in the North’s nuclear ambitions, there have been indications that Beijing was complying, at least to a worrying degree for the North.
Mr. Choe has been the most visible among a new lineup of officers Mr. Kim has been elevating to put his own stamp on the North's powerful military since he took over following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in late 2011. Earlier this month, the state-controlled Bank of China said that it had ceased dealing with the North Korean Foreign Trade Bank, a move that appeared to be supported by the Chinese government to show impatience with the North. Since then, other Chinese banks have taken similar steps, dealing a blow to the operation of the North Korean bank, which is a main channel of international financial transactions for the North.
As the political officer of the Korean People’s Army, Mr. Choe is in charge of assuring top military officers’ loyalty to Mr. Kim and ferreting out any whose allegiance is questioned. He has consistently been the highest-ranked military officer in the lineups of party and military officers accompanying Mr. Kim in state events in recent months. The orders of such lineups, reported in North Korean media, are closely monitored by outside analysts studying the structure of power in the isolated country. Mr. Choe holds at least two other key posts: member of the Politburo Presidium of the Workers’ Party of Korea and vice chairman of the Party’s Central Military Commission. Meanwhile, Washington and its allies have kicked off a flurry of diplomacy aimed at pressing the North to give up its nuclear programs, with President Park Geun-hye of South Korea meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington on May 7 and Glyn T. Davies, Mr. Obama’s top envoy on North Korea, travelin to Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo last week.
Mr. Choe has spent most of his career not in the military, but in the party apparatus. His appointment as top military leader under Mr. Kim was seen as part of the North Korean leader’s attempt to increase party control on the military, whose influence had expanded under the “military-first” policy of Mr. Kim’s father that focuses the nation’s resources on the military. But in recent days North Korea has begun pushing back, suggesting that it wil not bend to pressure. It has rattled the region by firing six short-range projectiles into waters off its east coast since Saturday.
Although Mr. Kim has met senior Chinese envoys sent to Pyongyang, he has never visited Beijing while serving as North Korean leader. One of the biggest challenges he faces was how to manage his country’s traditional ties with China. Last week, North Korea also allowed a sudden, rare visit by a political aide to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. And on Wednesday, Japan’s chief cabinet spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, said that high-level talks with the North are possible Pyongyang resolves longstanding questions on decades-old abduction of Japanese citizens, whose fate remains a hot political issue in Japan.
Despite its heavy economic and political reliance on China, analysts said, North Korea has never been a pliant junior partner for Beijing, continuing, for instance, to expand its nuclear arsenal despite repeated objections from China. The trip to North Korea by the Japanese aide, Isao Iijima, which caught many officials and commentators in the region off guard, drew attention because he was a key figure in helping arrange the summit visit to Pyongyang by the then Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, in 2002.
While China welcomed Mr. Iijima’s trip as a possible to step toward easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea called the trip “unhelpful” for an effort to build a unified front among the United States, Japan and South Korea in pressing North Korea. South Korean officials have long suspected North Korea of trying to crate a chasm among the United States and its allies in the region by playing them off against each other.
China is North Korea’s last remaining ideological ally and its single biggest trade partner and source of aid. It has long supported North Korea, despite disagreements over the North’s nuclear activities, and many Chinese experts see the North as a strategic shield against potential regional domination by the United States and its allies, South Korea and Japan.
Despite its heavy economic and political reliance on China, however, North Korea has never been a pliant junior partner for Beijing, continuing, for instance, to expand its nuclear arsenal despite repeated objections from China.
In recent months, Chinese scholars and bloggers have openly expressed increasing impatience with North Korea over its nuclear weapons ambitions and threats to the region.
This week, another dispute erupted between the Communist allies when the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry called for the release of 16 Chinese fishermen and their vessel seized May 5 by Nort Korea in waters between the countries. The North allowed the Chinese crew to return home with their vessel, the Chinese People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s main newspaper, reported on Tuesday, without clarifying whether North Korea received a payment, as it had demanded.
Mr. Choe, the North Korean special envoy, has been the most visible among a new lineup of officers Mr. Kim has been elevating to put his own stamp on the North’s powerful military since he took over following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in late 2011. As the political officer of the Korean People’s Army, Mr. Choe is in charge of assuring top military officers’ loyalty to Mr. Kim and ferreting out any whose allegiance is questioned.