China's recent rappoachment with North Korea likely played a role [0][1][2]. China has been trying to land a trilateral SK-JP-CN FTA for decades and in order t

China's recent rappoachment with North Korea likely played a role [0][1][2]. China has been trying to land a trilateral SK-JP-CN FTA for decades and in order to try and smoothen out negotiation recommitted to denuclearizing North Korea as recently as last year [3]. This is actually a major reason NK has continued to cultivate ties with Russia [4][5][6], as it gave NK strategic autonomy to maintain nuclear capabilities. By dropping unification, NK is making the CN-SK portion significantly less acrimonious as they are already increasingly tenuous due to CN-SK's maritime border [7], and as such was likely pressured to do so by China. [0] - https://www.reuters.com/investigations/china-is-rebuilding-its-grip-north-korea-is-kim-jong-un-ready-oblige-2026-03-11/ https://www.reuters.com/investigations/china-is-rebuilding-i... [1] - https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-foreign-minister-visit-north-korea-over-april-9-10-2026-04-08/ https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-foreign-minister-... [2] - https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/chinas-first-north-korea-bound-train-six-years-set-depart-beijing-2026-03-12/ https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/chinas-first-nort... [3] - https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/53131 https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/53131 [4] - https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-north-korea-forge-closer-ties-amid-shared-isolation-2023-07-27/ https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-north-korea-forge-close... [5] - https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/south-koreas-military-chief-says-russian-tech-possibly-went-into-north-koreas-2025-10-14/ https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/south-kor... [6] - https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korea-likely-received-help-russia-submarines-south-korea-minister-says-2025-10-13/ https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korea-likel... [7] - https://www.economist.com/asia/2026/01/15/china-is-testing-south-korea-in-the-yellow-sea https://www.economist.com/asia/2026/01/15/china-is-testing-s...