According to the official Communist Party newspaper People's Daily, Dai reassured his Pyongyang counterparts and North Korean "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-Il that Beijing would Òconsolidate and developÓ their friendship Òfrom beginning to end."
Kim responded that their friendship was ÒunbreakableÓ and added that North Korea "wished to resolve the relevant issues" via dialogue Ñ either bilaterally or multilaterally. This resulted in foreign media speculation that Kim had "hinted" that the North was now open to return to the so-called Òsix partyÓ nuclear talks with the U.S., Japan, Russia, South Korea and China.
However, the context of Kim's comments suggest that North Korea considers bilateral talks with the United States is its priority Ñ possibly with China as a participant. But nothing Kim said indicates Pyongyang is prepared to return to the six-party format, which it renounced in April, saying: ÒWe will never again take part in such talks and will not be bound by any agreement reached at the talks."
The People's Daily's lip-service comment about denuclearization was included with a reference to Òpeace and stabilityÓ on the Korean peninsula, a context consistent with North Korean demands that the United States give up its nuclear weapons Ñ and compromise its alliances with Japan and South Korea Ñ if the peninsula is to be truly Òdenuclearized."
Given considerable media reports of severely strained ties between Beijing and Pyongyang, the surprising aspect of Dai's visit was the continued fulsome praise for Beijing-Pyongyang relations and the total absence of any hint of tension between the two sides over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
A review of the People's Daily reporting on Dai's visit to Pyongyang highlights standard propaganda rhetoric of ÒunbreakableÓ ties forged by that "Greatest Generation" of Chinese and North Korean leaders, which includes Mao Zedong and Kim's father, Kim Il-Sung.
Nor was there any hint, so eagerly sought in Washington, that Beijing might be prepared to ratchet up economic pressures if Pyongyang doesn't behave itself in the nuclear arena. Far from it. China's vice minister of commerce was a prominent player in Dai's meetings with Kim and other North Korean officials.
John Tkacik, a retired foreign service officer, was chief of China analysis in the State DepartmentÕs Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) during the Clinton administration.
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