Time for US wishful thinking on North Korean denuclearisation is over

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent Pyongyang visit may ultimately be remembered as a turning point in the international debate over North Korea’s nuclear weapons. For years, China and Russia joined the United States in officially supporting a denuclearised Korean peninsula, even if their commitment varied considerably in practice. Today, however, Moscow has effectively accepted Pyongyang’s nuclear status, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov calling the denuclearisation of North Korea a “closed issue” back in September 2024. With Xi’s trip, China appears to be quietly moving in a similar direction. This leaves Washington increasingly isolated in its insistence that North Korea…