International Crisis Group
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Pondering Pyongyang: Beijing’s problem child | CNN
By Kristie Lu Stout
After the United Nations slapped tougher sanctions on North Korea after its third nuclear test in February this year, Pyongyang screamed in defiance. It canceled its hotline with South Korea, withdrew its workers from the Kaesong industrial complex it jointly operates with Seoul, and carried on with its over-the-top threats.
China may have backed those sanctions but the economic lifeline is still there. Trade goes on between North Korea and China. In 2011, before some of these trade embargoes began, China accounted for an estimated 67.2% of North Korea’s exports and 61.6% of imports, according to the CIA World Factbook.
“If you talk to officials at the border, there’s no change,” says Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, the North Asian head of the International Crisis Group.
Photo: adaptorplug/Flickr
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North and South Korea tentatively agree to talks on shuttered industrial zone | CNN
By Jethro Mullen and K.J. Kwon
The North Korean decision to halt operations surprised some observers, since Kaesong was considered an important source of hard currency for Kim Jong Un’s regime.
The proposal for talks regarding the complex indicates that “maybe the cost of closure of Kaesong is greater than they had anticipated,” said Daniel Pinkston, a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group covering Northeast Asia.
At the same time, Pinkston said, North Korea’s key ally China, which has expressed displeasure with some of Pyongyang’s recent behavior, may not have been “as generous as the North Koreans have been expecting in terms of aid, assistance, trade and investment.”
Photo: Gabriel Britto/Flickr