China and North Korea: Past, Present, and Future
Read the event coverageWith international attention focused on a potential U.S.-North Korea summit meeting in May, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a surprise trip to Beijing in late March to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The North Korean leader’s visit to Beijing, his first foreign visit since assuming power in late 2011, came amid strained bilateral relations in recent years. Kim and Xi appear to have reinvigorated the historical bonds between the two countries and reaffirmed China’s crucial role in the future of the Korean Peninsula. This conference explored the dynamics and tensions of the historical relationship between China and North Korea, the potential impact of Korean reunification on China, and China’s role in a limited military conflict and its aftermath.
8:30 am - 9:00 am: Registration and Breakfast
9:00 am - 9:15 am: Welcome
Speakers
Nancy Lindborg
President, U.S. Institute of Peace
Thomas Banchoff
Vice President for Global Engagement, Georgetown University
Panel 1, 9:15am - 10:30am
China and North Korea Relations
This panel examined the historical China-North Korea relationship, changes in political and security relations, and role of past and present economic ties on the future of the bilateral relationship.
Panelists
- Dennis Wilder, Moderator
Managing Director, Initiative for US-China Dialogue on Global Issues; Assistant Professor of Practice, Asian Studies Program, Georgetown University
@dennisw5 - Stella Xu
Associate Professor of History, Roanoke College - Yafeng Xia
Professor of History, Long Island University Brooklyn - Junsheng Wang
Visiting Senior Fellow, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council
Director and Associate Professor, Department of China’s Regional Strategy, National Institute of International Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China
BREAK
Panel 2, 10:45am - 12:00pm
Would a Reunified Korea under South Korean Leadership be Positive or Negative for China?
This panel assessed China’s position on the ideal end state for the Korean Peninsula and whether a reunified peninsula under South Korean leadership would be beneficial or detrimental to Chinese economic, political, and security interests given South Korean, Japanese and U.S. likely responses.
Panelists
- Frank Aum, Moderator
Senior Expert on North Korea, U.S. Institute of Peace
@frankaum1 - Yun Sun
Co-Director, East Asia Program; Director, China Program, Stimson Center - Heung-Kyu Kim
Director and Professor of Political Science, China Policy Institute, Ajou University, South Korea - Michael Green
Chair in Modern and Contemporary Japanese Politics and Foreign Policy and Director of Asian Studies, Georgetown University
Senior Vice President for Asia and Japan Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies
@JapanChair
Lunch Keynote Address, 12:15pm - 1:45pm
Speakers
- Ambassador Mark Lippert, Keynote Speaker
Current member of the Board of Trustees at the Asia Foundation and former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea.
@mwlippert - Oriana Skylar Mastro, Moderator
Assistant Professor of Security Studies, Georgetown University
Jeanne Kirkpatrick Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
@osmastro
BREAK
Panel 3, 2:00pm - 3:15pm
War and its Aftermath on the Korean Peninsula – What Role Could China Play?
This panel discussed the contours of a potential conflict on the Korean Peninsula, to include U.S. operations, how China may respond, and opportunities for cooperation. Participants will also examine Beijing’s role in shaping the post-war situation on the peninsula.
Panelists
- Jennifer Staats, Moderator
Director, East and Southeast Asia Programs, U.S. Institute of Peace - Abraham Denmark
Director, Asia Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
@AbeDenmark - Lieutenant General Jan-Marc Jouas
USAF (Ret.) Former Deputy Commander, US Forces Korea and United Nations Command Korea - Oriana Skylar Mastro
Assistant Professor of Security Studies, Georgetown University
Jeanne Kirkpatrick Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
@osmastro
Review the conversation throughout the day on Twitter with the hashtag #ChinaGUUSIP.
This conference was cosponsored by the Georgetown Center for Security Studies and the United States Institute of Peace, and made possible in part by the generosity of the Bilden Asian Security Studies Fund.
