China's Policy Towards North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program : From a Free Rider to a Controller?

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study reviews China’s actions towards North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. China has acted as a free rider in regards to the program and thus is not a controller for it. Instead of trying to regulate, from the beginning to the end, China has acted to veto the international community, blocking any attempt of the international community to exert pressure on North Korea. Through analyzing China’s actions, we can understand that China’s first priority of interests towards North Korea is not denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but is the maintenance of stability in the region and preservation of the North Korean regime. China’s policy towards North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is based on considerations related to management of alliance—entrapment and abandonment. Therefore, China still conceives North Korea as an important ally.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION..............................1
• 1.1 Purpose and Scope of the Study................................................1
• 1.2 Previous Studies............................................4
• 1.3 Methodology and Theory..............................................9
• CHAPTER 2 BACKGROUND—THE MAINSTREAM OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHINA AND TWO KOREAS.............................................13
• 2.1 Relationship with Two Koreas during the Cold War—One Korea Policy.......................................13
• 2.2 Development of China’s Relationship with South Korea after the Cold War..................................14
• 2.3 Development of China’s Relationship with North Korea after the Cold War..................................15
• 2.4 China’s Two Korea Policy—Managing a Triangle Relationship........................................17
• CHAPTER 3 THE FIRST NUCLEAR CRISIS—BEING A FREE RIDER..............................................19
• 3.1 China’s Responses to the First Nuclear Crisis.............................................19
• 3.2 China’s Policy during the First Nuclear Crisis.............................................24
• CHAPTER 4 THE SECOND NUCLEAR CRISIS—BEING A MEDIATOR THUS A CONTROLLER?.................................27
• 4.1 China’s Responses towards the Second Nuclear Crisis.............................................27
• 4.2 The Six-Party Talk and China’s Role...............................................29
• 4.3 China’s Policy during the Second Nuclear Crisis.............................................35
• CHAPTER 5 THE NUCLEAR TESTS—TOWARDS A CONTROLLER?........................................42
• 5.1 The First North Korean Nuclear Test and China’s Response...........................................42
• 5.2 The Second North Korean Nuclear Test and China’s Response............................................48
• 5.3 The Third North Korean Nuclear Test and China’s Response............................................54
• CHAPTER 6 AN ANALYSIS OF CHINA’S POLICY TOWARDS NORTH KOREA..............................................60
• 6.1 The Characteristics of China’s Policy towards North Korea—Seeing an Ally or not? ......................................................60
• 6.2 The Determinate Factors of China’s Policy towards North Korea .........................................65
• CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSIONS................................72