NORTH KOREA IS CREATING A HEADACHE FOR CHINA

North Korea's Kim Jong Un is currently courting two suitors, Russia and China, in a triangular relationship which is becoming problematic.

- JOHN DOBSON

A mong the many fables of Aesop, the famous storyteller who lived in Greece between 620 and 564 BC, is one of a man with two mistresses.

One mistress was older than him, the other considerably younger. Under the pretence of dressing the man's hair, the younger plucked out his grey hairs so that he would look closer in age to her, while the older plucked out the dark hairs with the same motive. Between the two he was left completely bald. The moral of the fable is perfectly clear: if you have two lovers, be careful! North Korea's Kim Jong Un is currently courting two suitors, Russia and China, in a triangular relationship which is becoming problematic. Beijing, the senior partner in the triad, is seeking to be the stable leader of a new world order, one that is not led by the United States. But that's becoming difficult to do when one ally, Russia, has started a war in Europe and the other, North Korea, is accused of aiding and abetting the invasion.

China's Xi Jinping is reported to be very unhappy with the situation.

This is not the first time that Russia and China have been in a relationship with their close neighbour. The Soviet Union, the predecessor state to the modern Russian Federation, was the first country to recognise North Korea back in 1948, supporting it both politically and militarily during the three-year Korean War which ended with an armistice in 1953. Mao Zedong also sent Chinese soldiers to fight on behalf of North Korea in the war, where some 400,000 troops died including his own son.

When the two communist juggernauts fell out and China actively prepared for an invasion by the Soviets, North Korea's leader, Kim Il Sung, took advantage of the situation by playing his two neighbours against each other in order to maximise his position. He sought aid from one and then used it to extract more from the other.

His grandson Kim Jong Un is doing the same. History is repeating itself.