Pyongyang's Last Friend

UN Security Council Resolution 1874, passed in June this year, was an attempt to isolate North Korea in light of its nuclear development program. At the time, Hilary Clinton announced that the North Koreans had no friends left. According to Gordon Chang in the WSJ, that may have been a slight exaggeration:

Kim Jong Il hugged Wen Jiabao on the Chinese premier's arrival in Pyongyang on October 4. Analysts were surprised at the time that the reclusive North Korean supremo made the trip to the tarmac to show his affection. Now we know why: Mr. Wen came to the North Korean capital less to mark 60 years of diplomatic ties with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea—the ostensible purpose of the trip—than to sign commercial pacts with it. By doing so, China undoubtedly violated United Nations Security Resolution 1874 by giving Kim the means to keep his nuclear arsenal in the face of intense international pressure.

Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, was sparse with details on the deals. It merely stated the two communist states "signed a series of agreements on cooperation and announced that a new highway bridge over the Yalu River will be built." But reports from South Korean newspapers indicate Beijing, as a part of a comprehensive package, also agreed to provide financial assistance to Kim's destitute state. Chinese grants to the North total at least $200 million. [...]

The question now becomes what other countries will do about China's violation of this U.N. resolution. Seoul already has requested clarification of the terms of the agreements, to help determine whether they violate the U.N. rule. Washington can be at least as resolute as its South Korean ally and demand, in public, an explanation from Beijing of the precise nature of its economic relations with the sanctioned Pyongyang regime. There is no point in working through the U.N. if permanent Security Council members are allowed to violate its resolutions.

Whatever the outcome of those efforts, last week's deals send a powerful signal to the United States, Japan and South Korea that Beijing will undercut any sanctions they may put in place to bring the North Koreans back to the bargaining table or persuade them to surrender their nukes. And the agreements send another important message to Pyongyang. As one of China's netizens noted during Mr. Wen's visit, "It must be a huge encouragement for North Korea that, when the whole world is isolating them, our premier is there to give them hope."

Here's a different take, suggesting that no deal was signed, as the Dear Leader failed to provide a clear statement on his country’s willingness to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks. It's hardly authoritative - an Asahi newspaper report citing "unidentified people familiar with the matter" - but, if true, would suggest that we're back where we were: using bribes. As Joshua at One Free Korea puts it: "if we’re back in the business of paying North Korea to come back to talks to stall and lie, we’re right back at square one. The only things that change are the size of Kim Jong Il’s arsenal and the number of bones strewn in the fields and forests of the camps". 

Ah yes, the camps:

North Korea still runs six prison camps holding 154,000 political prisoners, a South Korean lawmaker has said....

In his statement to the National Assembly, Mr Yoon said North Korea used to operate 10 labour camps holding some 200,000 people in the 1990s, but had closed four under international pressure.

But he said six large camps were still going, holding dissidents, those who had attempted to flee the country, the losers in political power struggles, and ordinary North Koreans accused of being disrespectful towards the leadership.

These 154,000 inmates - who are held in separate prisons from common criminals - are forced to work more than 10 hours a day on only 200g (7oz) of food, and are denied medical care, Mr Yoon said.

"North Korea perpetrates various crimes against humanity, including public executions, tortures or rapes, against those who try to escape," Mr Yoon was quoted as saying.