Despite Kim Jong Il paying regular visits to China in the final days of his life, under Kim Jong Un relations between Beijing and Pyongyang are widely viewed to have chilled – largely as a result of North Korea's February 2013 nuclear test, which was conducted in the face of Chinese pressure.
And as relations have thawed, North Korea has increased its outreach to other countries in the region, with Russia and Japan being notable examples.
Despite Kim Jong Il paying regular visits to China in the final days of his life, under Kim Jong Un relations between Beijing and Pyongyang are widely viewed to have chilled – largely as a result of North Korea's February 2013 nuclear test, which was conducted in the face of Chinese pressure.
And as relations have thawed, North Korea has increased its outreach to other countries in the region, with Russia and Japan being notable examples.
Chad O'Carroll is the founder of NK News/NK Pro and related holding company Korea Risk Group. In addition to being the group's CEO, O'Carroll is a frequent writer and commentator about the Koreas, having written about the two nations since 2010. He has visited the DPRK multiple times, worked and lived in Washington, D.C. with a focus on peninsula issues, and lived in the ROK since 2016.