ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the checkered history of Sino North Korean relations since the end of the Cold War with reference to three issue areas political/diplomatic, military/security, and economic in order to present some of the major goals motivating Chinese diplomacy in Northeast Asian geopolitics in general and in Korean peninsular affairs in particular, and in order to gain some insight into the possible future directions of the relationship. Because the triangular element of PRC-DPRK relations is crucial, the chapter begins with a discussion of the making of a triangular relationship. Beijing's relations with North Korea began to be renormalized in 1999, due in no small part to shared threat perceptions related to the US-led war against Yugoslavia over Kosovo. Improvements in relations were made evident in a series of high-level political and diplomatic exchanges, including most notably the official state visit of Chinese President Jiang Zemin to Pyongyang in early September 2001.
