Why is China so supportive of NK?

Marcus Noland

Why is it so difficult for China to join the South Korea-led initiative to bring North Korea to the U.N. Security Council and to force the North to take responsibility for its provocative act?

In a nutshell, North Korea is useful for China and therefore the latter wants to keep the former intact, just the way it is, observed Marcus Noland, deputy director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

In an interview Friday for the Peterson Perspective series on the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Noland said Beijing doesn't share Washington's interest on the Korean Peninsula in that the former likes to have a divided Korea.

"China can basically have North Korea do things such as cooperate in nuclear weapons programs with Pakistan and then maintain possible deniability," the North Korea watcher said.