Recent UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions are unlikely to “change Kim Jong Un’s calculus” due to North Korea’s resilient economy and sanctions loopholes, a South Korean specialist on Sino-DPRK relations told NK News in a recent interview.

In fact, Park Jong-chol, Associate Professor at the Department of Social Studies Education of Gyeongsang National University said, sanctions may have a positive effect on the DPRK economy by promoting “trade reorganization” and encouraging coal prices to fall.

He also believes Beijing is yet to decide on where to draw its red line on North Korea, despite the two walking “the worst path”