| Publication |
2010.
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| Summary/Abstract |
China is the largest trading partner of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and also provides considerable economic aid. Thus, China is said to have very strong economic leverage over North Korea. China's goal in its North Korea policy is to secure political and economic stability in the region peripheral to China by using such economic leverage. To achieve this goal, China is expected to approach the North Korea nuclear issue with a more comprehensive and longer-term viewpoint. China seeks to stably manage the North Korea nuclear issue by utilizing its economic leverage over North Korea in the short- to medium-term. China thinks that such management, through the Six-Party Talks, is the most appropriate solution to the North Korea nuclear issue as far as China is concerned. In the long term, China seeks to transplant its reform and open-door model into North Korea and to structurally soft-land North Korea as a China-friendly regime in the region that adjoins the northeastern border of China. If China determines that the North Korea nuclear issue will not lead to any serious insecurity directly affecting China, it is very likely that China will choose the method of managing the North Korea nuclear issue from a long-term perspective. To achieve such a long-term strategy, China must maintain its economic exchange and cooperation with North Korea, and not use it as a means to sanction North Korea.
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