Former U.S. Nuclear Envoy Expresses Concerns about China's Leniency Toward North Korea

On March 27th, one day after the memorial ceremony commemorating the sinking of a South Korean War ship by North Korean forces, a Former U.S. Nuclear Envoy, Christopher Hill, expressed his concerns about China not recognizing the results of a South Korean led international probe which identified North Korea as the perpetrator of the act. The attack by North Korea, which left 46 sailors dead and drastically elevated tension in the Korean Peninsula, violated the six-party agreement (between the two Koreas, China, Russia, and Japan) that Hill helped to forge from 2005-2009, which stated that North Korea would dismantle its nuclear programs in return for certain political and economic benefits.

What I found interesting about this article, provided by Yonhap News (a South Korean news agency based in Seoul), is it's use of a voice from the United States specifically to condemn China's behavior.

Hill can be quoted as saying: "I don't think there's any reasonable person in the world who does not know what actually happened" and "I don't understand a policy that seems to not want to deal with facts."

Hill was quoted while he was at a nuclear nonproliferation conference outside Seoul. Out of all the experts attending, why did this news station choose Hill out of all of the other qualified experts present? It is true Hill had previous experience in dealings with nuclear power in the region before, however, Hill is commenting on China’s actions, not North Korea’s.

In addition to pointing out China’s overt defense of North Korea on the U.N. Security Council by vetoing any attempts by the United States and South Korea to sanction North Korea, the article does a good job of highlighting the fundamental reason why it is concerned about China’s sympathies toward North Korea by pointing out that China is North Korea’s “only remaining ideological backer.” This ideological connection between China and North Korea, as well as including the opinions of an American nuclear envoy, has reminded Western readers not only of their enemy in North Korea, but has aligned China with their enemy as well.

One must remember, however, that this article comes from a South Korean news source, so it is obviously bias toward South Korea and the United States. But the connections they make between North Korea and China, whether subtle or overt, clearly send the message that China is too sympathetic to a common enemy to be considered an ally.