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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un |
By Yang Hengjun
Chinese netizens believe North Korea’s current path is not sustainable.
In October, North Korea hosted a huge military parade in honor of the 70th anniversary of its Korean Workers’ Party. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made a 20-minute speech, his first public address in three years. He thanked his people for their unrelenting support under the American embargo and pledged to put them first. In light of this there has been some commentary about how North Korea might turn from its “Songun,” or “military-first” policy mantra, to a “people-first” policy. Some went as far as predicting how this Kim dynasty might follow in Deng Xiaoping’s footsteps and implement an era of “reform and opening up.”
Given their shared history of struggle and common ideologies, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the People’s Republic of China are blood brothers in a sense. Regardless of what the DPRK does, China will always be involved in some way. The online community seems particularly interested in the North Korea question as well as China-North Korea relations. In this spirit, I made a few posts on Weibo to conduct a mini-investigation into what Chinese netizens think about North Korea. Below I’ll briefly outline the responses I received.
Read the full story at The Diplomat