Dong Ryul Lee, Chair of EAI China Research Center and a professor at Dongduk Women’s University, notes that while the partnership between China, DPRK, and Russia seems to have grown closer recently, it is more pertinent to focus on shifts within their bilateral relationships under the trilateral framework. Lee points out that China is in a dilemma: it needs to adopt a more proactive stance in this trilateral relationship to garner allies in its standoff with the U.S., while also managing its diplomatic ties with South Korea, the U.S., Japan, and Europe to safeguard its security interests. Furthermore, Lee stresses that South Korea must actively engage with China, the weakest link in the China-DPRK-Russia relationship, to achieve a breakthrough in resolving the North Korean issue.

* Also available for download in Korean.