Timing Matters as North Korean Leader Visits China

"While the big news on the Korean Peninsula at the end of last week was a meeting between President Hu of China and President Lee of South Korea on the sidelines of the Shanghai World Expo, the bigger news today focuses on reports that President Kim Jong-il of North Korea is currently in China. Reports suggest that the meeting between Presidents Hu and Lee went well, with the brief discussions focused most clearly on the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean navy vessel. With the investigation of the sinking still under way, the meeting was an important opportunity for President Lee to present preliminary findings of the investigation, findings which seem to unofficially point at North Korea. Coming as it does on the heels of the meeting between the Chinese and South Korean presidents, Kim Jong-il’s apparent visit to China – if early reports prove correct -- raises many questions about the timing and the purpose of such a visit. There is hope that this visit might allow China to nudge North Korea back to the Six Party Talks, but there are also concerns that by greeting Kim Jong-il before the Cheonan investigation is complete, China is disregarding the role North Korea may have played,” says Michael Kulma, Asia Society’s Director of Policy Initiatives. Mike, who is in New York, is editor of Asia Society’s new Korea Briefing.

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