A respected Japanese expert on Korean affairs on Wednesday said that China may support the South Korea-led unification of the Korean Peninsula because China no longer needs North Korea as a buffer zone vis-à-vis the U.S.

Hajime Izumi, a professor of international relations at the University of Shizuoka, said China and South Korea have been becoming increasingly close since last year. He said that this has put huge pressure on North Korea and driven Pyongyang to re-enter official talks with Japan.

Izumi said South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s approach to China was quite predictable, but that China’s aggressive engagement of