Author: O. V. KIRYANOV A CONSEQUENCE OF BEIJING'S "INSIDIOUS PLANS" OR THE RESULT OF THE GROWTH OF THE CHINESE ECONOMY? O. V. KIRYANOV Postgraduate student of ISAA MSU Rossiyskaya Gazeta correspondent China Keywords:. North Korea, trade and economic relations, investment, dependence After South Korea took a course to curtail trade and economic ties with the DPRK in 2008, the situation has developed that external circumstances push Pyongyang to strengthen the alliance and trade and economic relations with the PRC, leaving it with no other alternative. In theory, Japan, the United States and Russia could also act as a relatively serious alternative, or at least achieve more or less significant trade and economic cooperation with the DPRK. However, for one reason or another, none of them can become a counterweight to Pyongyang's Chinese influence. TOKYO'S STUBBORNNESS AND WASHINGTON'S ZIGZAGS Trade with Japan after 1992 accounted for a fairly large share of the DPRK's foreign trade balance - about 20%1. The land of the Rising Sun consistently ranked second to fourth among North Korea's main trading partners. Thus, in 2000, the volume of Japanese-North Korean trade reached $463.7 million, in 2001 - $474.7 million, in 2002 - $369.5 million.2 However, then an event occurred, after which Tokyo actually completely abandoned any kind of ties with the DPRK. During the 2002 North Korean-Japanese summit, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il acknowledged responsibility for the abduction of some Japanese citizens by North Korean special services in the 1970s and 1980s.Some Japanese or their relatives were even released to their homeland. However, the effect was diametrically opposite to what Pyongyang was probably hoping for. These confessions breathed new life into the painful topic of the abduction of Japanese citizens and the involvement of the DPRK special services in this, which even in Japan itself began to be questioned. Under pressure from the public and various political for ... Read more