안보위협에 대한 공동인식과 북중관계의 ‘탄성’

Abstract

During the Cold War, North Korea and China maintained a solid alliance. Of course, Sino–North Korea relations were not always good. Conflicts and tensions also existed between the two countries. A representative example was the tensions of the Sino-North Korea relations due to China and Soviet interference in the August incident in 1956. However, North Korea and China would resolve the tensions and conflicts in bilateral relations and recover the original solid alliance after a certain period of time and process. This study named this as "elasticity" of Sino–North Korea relations. The "elasticity" of Sino-North Korea relations is based on the common perception of the two countries regarding security threats. In other words, North Korea and China’s shared perception of security threats was the main factor that made the bilateral relations sturdy. Also, the ideology and the homogeneity of the political system, the geographical characteristics that bordered became a condition and a background that made Sino-North Korea relations closer. In this respect, the reason why North Korea and China was strongly close during the Civil war and the Korean War and in the post-war period was that there was an external hostile force that threatened the survival and security of North Korea and China. Since Soviet – Chinese joint intervention with the incident in August 1956, Sino - North Korea relations have deteriorated. As China has embarked on an appeasement policy toward North Korea since 1957, the tensions in bilateral relations have eased. The notable point is that the internal crisis of the socialist camp due to the Polish-Hungarian situation in October-November in 1956, not an external threat, became the background that the tensions of Sino - North Korea relations began to eased. The Polish-Hungarian incident led the entire socialist camp to chaos and shock. China actively supported the Soviet policy and position for the stability and unity of the socialist camp. North Korea also supported the Soviet – Chinese policies for dealing with the Eastern Europe incident and strongly condemned the 'counter revolutionary forces' of Hungary. The united positions and opinions of North Korea and China about the Poland and Hungary incident became a moment of relaxation of the tensions of the bilateral relations. This fact suggests that the power which has relieved tensions in Sino – North Korea relations and strengthened bilateral ties, that is the 'elasticity' of Sino - North Korea relations, originated from the internal crisis of the socialist camp. In that respect, the Polish-Hungarian incident in the second half of 1956 provided an 'opportunity' that the tensions between the North and the South that had formed since the August event could be resolved.