US

New DPRK envoy unlikely to change ties

By Cheng Guangjin (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-27 08:11

BEIJING - The ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) arrived on Tuesday, replacing his predecessor who had served for six months, in a move analysts said would not likely affect Beijing-Pyongyang ties.

Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the new DPRK envoy, Ji Jae-ryong, arrived on Tuesday, while confirming that his predecessor, Choe Pyong-gwan, had returned to Pyongyang.

Analysts said the rotation of top envoys was a routine domestic political decision by Pyongyang seeking to smooth preparations for a power shift for its future leader, and is unlikely to affect Beijing's relations with the DPRK, its longtime ally.

Ji, 68, has previously served as ambassador to the former Czechoslovakia in the 1980s, and the former Yugoslavia in the decade prior to its violent breakup in the early 1990s before moving to the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) as deputy director of its international affairs department, according to the Yonhap News Agency of the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Zhang Liangui, a professor of international strategic research at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said that replacing ambassadors normally indicates a renewed relationship between countries, but added that Pyongyang's move at this juncture will have very little - if any - impact on its ties with Beijing.

Indeed, Huang Youfu, director of the Institute of Korean Studies at the Central University for Nationalities, said that, most likely, Pyongyang is seeking to further advance its friendship with Beijing by appointing the new ambassador, while making preparations for the future leader.

"The DPRK needs to learn from China how to develop its economy - and it also needs to pave the way for its third generation leader," Huang said.

Kim Jong-un, who is believed to be 27, was made a four-star general and appointed to key party posts in late September.

Officials of the US-led United Nations Command and Pyongyang, meanwhile, are expected to hold another round of mid-level military talks on Wednesday to discuss the March sinking of a Republic of an ROK warship, according to Yonhap.

Since July, the two sides have met six times to discuss the incident while establishing the date and agenda for general-level talks.

Seoul has denounced Pyongyang for torpedoing its corvette warship in March, leading to the deaths of 46 sailors. Pyongyang, for its part, has denied the accusation.

Then on Sunday, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported that Wu Dawei, China's top envoy representing the Six-Party Talks aimed at nuclear disarmament on the Korean Peninsula, has proposed that the talks themselves be held on a monthly basis once they have resumed.

But Tokyo and Washington have refused the proposal out of hand. Moreover, conditions are not advanced for such frequency, they said, insisting that Pyongyang admit its alleged responsibility for the March sinking.

After speaking with DPRK chief negotiator Kim Gye-gwan in Beijing on Oct 12, Wu told reporters that "the DPRK is positive about returning to the talks", while voicing uncertainty as to when this would happen, the Korea Times reported earlier.

Zhang said chances remain slim for a resumption of the Six-Party Talks and that the key barrier is not the March sinking as has been claimed.

"The key parties involved in the talks set different conditions for resuming the talks - and they are unlikely to make concessions," Zhang said.

China has been hosting the talks that were stalled after the DPRK walked out on the talks in 2009. The six parties consist of the DPRK, the ROK, the US, Russia, Japan and China.

Wang Chenyan contributed to this story.

China Daily