However, on the subject of his country’s return to the negotiation table in Beijing, “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-Il only expressed “our readiness to hold multilateral talks, depending on the outcome of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea-U.S. talks.” And while Kim reiterated Pyongyang’s theoretical commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, he was but repeating the same rhetorical pledges made by his aides and diplomats during the past month or so.
Newspapers in South Korea have reported that DPRK scientists have all along proceeded with their ambitious nuclear weapons program.
Wen’s North Korean diplomacy is disappointing because prior to his visit, the Chinese Foreign Ministry took the unusual step of announcing that Beijing would bolster food and fuel aid to the Stalinist regime. On top of this, Wen personally presented China’s once-and-future ally with gifts worth $20 million.
Since July, the leadership under President Hu Jintao, who takes personal charge of foreign and security policies, has also silenced domestic critics of the DPRK.
Soon after Pyongyang’s nuclear test on May 25, several renowned Chinese experts on the Koreas published articles in the official media blasting Kim’s misguided attempts to build a full-fledged nuclear arsenal. Such criticisms have disappeared from even the chat-rooms of China’s websites.
On relations with the U.S., however, Hu, who heads the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Leading Group on Foreign Affairs, is said to be ecstatic over Obama’s decision not to see the Dalai Lama during the Tibetan spiritual leader’s five-day visit to Washington this week.
This was the first time since 1991 that a U.S. president has failed to vouchsafe the Nobel Prize laureate even a “drop in” opportunity at the White House.
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