An excellent article Hsin-Yi Lo. China-North Korean (NK) relations never get enough coverage.

A further consideration for China, that impacts on the China-NK relations, may be China seeing NK as a buffer zone, keeping not only the US and South Korean military forces away from China's doorstep but possibly Japanese forces if Japan again becomes expansionist.

China would certainly have bad memories of the US-SK on its border during the Korean War. Some US fighter-bombers were known to have bombed targets 80kms into Chinese territory, now and then, during that war.

Looking at the world from NK's point of view it has made the calculation to starve its people and make itself internationally unpopular in order to develop a nuclear capability. NK's excuse could be that every major power: Japan, the US, SK, Russia and China have all invaded it or occupied it in the last 80 years. Like Israel NK is surrounded by threats.

China is doing a good job maintaining a relationship with bitter and twisted NK while China keeps an eye on it.

Anyway, a great article :)

Pete

Thanks Pete for your comment :) Sorry it has taken a while to respond. Yes China is sort of using Nth K as a buffer zone...sort of like the reason US is backing Taiwan for so many years. The relationship between China and Nth K is pretty complicated, China sort of needs them but at the same time has to keep an eye out on them (never know if there'll be a leader some day who would launch a nuclear attack!).

But as you mentioned, Nth K is adamant to keep its nuclear programs because it is surrounded by a lot of threats, and they are suspicious of every one of them