ABSTRACT
The policy of condoning financial transactions that circumvent international sanctions and enable North Korea's leadership to pursue a nuclear programme could reach a turning point if Beijing interprets advancement as a threat to the current status quo. China is wary of pushing North Korea too far, and the long-standing economic support it has provided is a testament to its inherent value as a stable, pro-China/anti-USA buffer state. Overall, China favours a non-nuclear Korean peninsula, but it is still unwilling to apply any substantial pressure on the regime that would endanger its survival. This gives North Korea a high degree of latitude in its relations with the USA and South Korea. In the short term, expanding trade with Russia makes sense for both countries. With North Korea's consistent refusal to reciprocate in agreements, relations between the two countries have become stagnant and the risk of conflict continues to linger as has been the case for the past decade.
