BEIJING — China’s foreign minister said Wednesday that North Korea could suspend its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for a halt in joint U.S.-South Korea military drills, in an unusually public proposal that analysts said showed Beijing’s growing alarm over the tensions.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said frictions between the North and Washington and Seoul were like “two accelerating trains” headed at each other, with neither side willing to give way.
“The question is: Are the two sides really ready for a head-on collision?” Wang told reporters. “Our priority now is to flash the red light and apply the brakes on both trains.”
Wang said China has proposed that as a first step to defusing the looming crisis, the North might halt its nuclear program development and missile testing if the U.S. and South Korea suspended their military drills.
“This suspension-for-suspension can help us break out of the security dilemma and bring the parties back to the negotiating table,” Wang said, describing the approach as trying to address all parties’ concerns in a “synchronized and reciprocal” manner.
North Korea first floated the proposal in 2015, but it was swiftly dismissed by Washington and Seoul, who say the two issues are unrelated. Their view is that North Korea’s nuclear and missile program is in violation of U.N. resolutions whereas the joint U.S.-South Korea drills are a long-standing practice.
Chinese scholars said Beijing has privately discussed this proposal with the countries involved but Wang’s move to make it public could be a sign that China plans to take a more aggressive approach to the issue to prevent it from spinning out of control.
China has been stepping up pressure on North Korea, its once-close Communist ally, to give up its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Last month, Beijing suspended all coal imports from North Korea for the rest of the year, a move that deprives the North of an important source of foreign currency. Beijing wants the U.S. in return to restart long-stalled negotiations with North Korea.
Wang’s move to publicize Beijing’s proposal could also be directed at Washington ahead of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to China later this month.
A White House official downplayed Wang’s idea, saying China has made similar proposals in the past. The South Korean government had no immediate response.
