China’s role in any future reunification of the Korean peninsula should not be assumed, a South Korean analyst has warned at a peace forum in Hong Kong after being asked if Bejing is a reliable partner to help advance the goal.
Sung Ki-young, chief research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy, told the Korean Peninsula Peace Forum on Wednesday that both China and the United States were reluctant to rapidly or radically alter peace and stability on the peninsula, meaning major powers were more likely to support incremental steps than any sudden shift.
He said international players preferred “a more step-by-step approach” towards peace and the long-stalled prospect of reunification between the two Koreas.
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In that context, Sung said China was “not 100 per cent reliable” when it came to its role in reunification, given Beijing’s preference for stability as a constraint on how far it would be willing to go.
Sung argued, however, that Beijing’s influence on North Korea remained unmatched because China still provided what he called a “life support function for North Korea’s fragile economy”.
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“If China locks the pipeline, North Korea will not be able to survive,” said Sung, who previously served as director general for unification policy at South Korea’s Ministry of Reunification.