North Korea would collapse without China’s support: Kerry

WASHINGTON – North Korea would collapse without support from its economic benefactor China, the top U.S. diplomat said Wednesday, stressing the importance of working with Beijing to address North Korean threats and its nuclear program.

Secretary of State John Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee the past 15 to 20 years of trying to deal with Pyongyang has shown the U.S. doesn’t have direct influence over it other than the military threat which carries huge risks.

Kerry, who visited Beijing last week, said China has indicated a willingness to work with the U.S. on a diplomatic solution.

But he added that China is worried about the humanitarian problems that could spill across its border if there was greater instability on the Korean Peninsula.

“China provides almost three-quarters of the fuel to the North. China is a significant banking conduit for the North. China provides significant food aid to the North. I think it’s fair to say that without China, North Korea would collapse. Therefore I think it is important for us to work with China. And I think China has indicated its willingness to work with us,” Kerry said.

Kerry did not elaborate on what form a new policy might take, but said the U.S. would not repeat failures of the past. “We’re not going to reward them and come to the table and get into some food deal without some pretty ironclad concept of how we’re going forward on the denuclearization,” he said.

He said top U.S. officials will engage with China on how to proceed. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey – the highest-ranking U.S. military officer – will be travelling there in the coming days, and then Deputy Secretary of State William Burns in about two weeks.

China, impoverished North Korea’s sole major ally, supported the stiffest U.N. sanctions yet in response to a February nuclear test, but the Asian power’s strategic unease at the U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific makes it unlikely Beijing will cut its economic lifeline to Pyongyang. A collapse in North Korea could lead to a pro-U.S. reunified Korea on its southern border.

The U.S. retains nearly 30,000 troops in South Korea – a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War – but rejects accusations from the North that the deterrent force plans to invade.

North Korea’s young leader Kim Jong Un has responded to the latest sanctions and U.S.-South Korean military exercises with threats of nuclear strikes on the U.S. and its allies – sounding more belligerent than previous leaders of the authoritarian dynasty – and appears to be preparing a medium-range ballistic missile test.

Kerry said Kim’s actions are threatening the stability of the Korean Peninsula, and he thinks China is changing its calculation of its relationship with North Korea, although he added that is yet to be proven.