Who is backing north korea

A sudden collapse of the North Korean regime or conflict on the peninsula may make this cross-strait problem more complicated. In other words, is China ready to risk having a South Korea-dominated unified peninsula? At the minimum, China would demand a neutral Korea. Hence, a divided Peninsula still remains optimal for Chinese interests at the moment. Caught in the middle, Korea is historically a strategic plaything in a great power competition.

View the discussion thread. Four reasons why China supports North Korea. Wang Chenjun Richard McGregor. Related Content. Managing Chinese economic risks means more than diversification. In October , North Korea tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile, firing a Pukguksong-3 from an underwater platform. At the time, state news agency KCNA said it had been fired at a high angle to minimise the "external threat". However, if the missile had been launched on a standard trajectory, instead of a vertical one, it could have travelled around 1,km.

That would have put all of South Korea and Japan within range. Being launched from a submarine can also make missiles harder to detect and allow them to get closer to other targets.

The latest launch comes as South Korea develops its own weapons, in what observers say has turned into an arms race on the Korean peninsula. Seoul is holding what is said to be South Korea's largest ever defence exhibition this week.

It will reportedly unveil a new fighter jet as well as guided weapons like missiles. It is also due to launch its own space rocket soon. North and South Korea technically remain at war as the Korean War, which split the peninsula into two countries and which saw the US backing the South, ended in with an armistice.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said last week that he did not wish for war to break out again. He said his country needed to continue developing weapons for self-defence against enemies, namely the US which he accused of hostility. North Korea has been pushing for years to develop and test nuclear-armed missiles from submarines.

But can they actually fire them from a submarine? We will have to wait for images of the launch, which will give analysts a better idea of just how far Pyongyang has come. And let's be clear about the threat - the country's submarines are reportedly noisy and easy to track. The regime is thought to have only one submarine capable of launching missiles while a second one is being built at Sinpo.

There is, of course, also a bit of showmanship going on here. It would reduce the risks of war and limit the damage done by nuclear proliferation in Northeast Asia. North Korea has an estimated 20 to 60 nuclear bombs today, and is still making more as best we can tell.

It is hard to see North Korea giving up those bombs even if sanctions remain in place indefinitely, though admittedly we cannot be sure. North Koreans have talked about being willing to eat grass to keep their nuclear arsenal.

Kim and his cronies will always have their caviar and cognac, but there can be little doubt that the North Korean leader would be willing to see his own people continue to suffer as long as he keeps hold of his ultimate guarantee of political and personal survival. Striving for complete North Korean denuclearization is a bridge too far. But perhaps Kim has concluded that 20 to 60 or 70, or 80!

And perhaps he is also willing to make permanent his moratorium on testing nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, provided the United States and South Korea cap the size of their military exercises. We can live with such a deal, too. If North Korea can be persuaded to dismantle its nuclear infrastructure, its future arsenal will be forever capped at or below its current size.

But by giving North Korea a stake in peace, and a stable Northeast Asia, it would on balance probably reduce the risks of war. By Michael E. Under such a deal, U. It is these sanctions that really hurt North Korea because they prevent its normal economic dealings with China and South Korea in particular, as well as with Russia and some Southeast Asian nations.