Kim Jong Un seeks support from Xi, Putin on policy shift

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin for understanding and support of Pyongyang’s policy shift toward abandoning peaceful unification and designating South Korea as a hostile state, Japan’s Kyodo News reported on Sept. 13.

Citing diplomatic sources, Kyodo said Kim conveyed this position when he visited Beijing on Sept. 3 to attend a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of China’s victory in World War II, meeting the Chinese and Russian leaders separately. At the end of 2023, North Korea declared that the two Koreas were no longer kin but “two hostile states.” Kyodo assessed that North Korea is intensifying its diplomatic campaign to gain international support for this stance. Kim is also said to have outlined the strategy last month to key directors of the North's Foreign Ministry. In particular, he reportedly met Xi on Sept. 4 in Beijing to explain the reasons behind abandoning unification and to seek understanding.

However, the Chinese statement released after the Kim-Xi summit included only Xi’s remark that China maintains a consistent, objective, and fair stance on the Korean Peninsula issue. It made no mention of unification. Nor was it clear what specific position Xi took on Kim’s new policy toward South Korea. Meanwhile, during the Kim-Putin summit held in Beijing on Sept. 3, Kim reportedly delivered a similar explanation about giving up unification, and Putin was said to have expressed support.

At the end of last month, Tae Hyong Chol, president of North Korea’s Academy of Social Sciences, also described inter-Korean relations as “two hostile states” during a visit to Mongolia and explained Pyongyang’s decision to abandon unification, according to the report. Kyodo noted it was the first time in about eight years that North Korea had dispatched the head of a research institute to Mongolia.

North Korea is also coordinating plans to send a senior official to deliver its address at the U.N. General Assembly’s general debate later this month. Kyodo projected that, in addition to justifying its possession of nuclear weapons, the North may also use the platform to present its views on the Korean Peninsula situation.


In-Chan Hwang hic@donga.com