North Korea Looms Large for Upcoming US-China Summit
“Will North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visit China? It's looking less likely for this week, since he would have to be back in Pyongyang by Friday for the annual convening of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly. And Chinese President Hu Jintao is off soon for an American trip, including two days in Washington for President Obama's nuclear summit. With or without the Kim trip, the flurry of PRC-DPRK diplomatic contacts of late suggest increased ‘coordination’ between Beijing and Pyongyang in advance of Hu's face-to-face meeting with Obama. North Korea was notably absent from both the White House and Xinhua reports on the hour-long phone chat between Obama and Hu. Could this be an indication something is in the works? Or, will the six-party process [aimed at disarming North Korea] keep muddling along, and North Korea satisfy itself by being the elephant in the room at Obama's Global Nuclear Security Summit?” says John Delury, Associate Director of Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations.
John is in New York. To arrange an interview, contact the Asia Society communications department at 212-327-9271 or [email protected].