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North Korea and China have historically shared amicable relations, and their
relationship has been referred to “as close as lips and teeth.” Professor
Jaewoo Choo from Kyung Hee University challenges the idea that North
Korea-China relations are evolving into “normal relations” by highlighting the
distinctiveness of their ties as communist states. He states that the two
countries share three security objectives: 1) to rid the U.S. presence and
influence in the region, 2) to resolve the nuclear issue, and 3) to replace the
armistice agreement with a peace treaty. He emphasizes the misconceptions
regarding the seemingly normal relations between North Korea and China,
which in reality are subject to party-to-party relations as opposed to state-to-
state relations. These two countries are unable to have normal relations since
it prerequisites the collapse of North Korea’s party state system or the
separation of powers between parties and the state within China. Normal
relations also require changes in the way North Korea currently values China
as an asset for its geographic security. Professor Choo concludes that as long
as the Communist Party of China and the North Korean Workers’ Party exist,
the special relationship will be maintained for these two states achieve their
security goals on the Korean Peninsula. [Read Commentary]
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