China Aims to Widen Influence on Korean Peninsula via Flight Deal With Seoul, Visit to Pyongyang

Without adequate U.S. support, South Korea could become a weak link in the First Island Chain to contain the CCP and North Korea, experts said.

Korean Air planes on the tarmac at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 2, 2020. Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images

South Korea and China have agreed to expand weekly scheduled flights between the two countries for the first time in seven years, Seoul announced on June 4.

Meanwhile, China’s ruling Communist Party (CCP) announced that its leader Xi Jinping will visit North Korea on June 8, his first visit there in nearly seven years.