North Korea courts China, Russia at once to build leverage against US, analysts say

North Korea is stepping up high-level diplomatic engagement with both China and Russia in what experts describe as a calculated effort to maximize its strategic value to both powers and strengthen its leverage against the United States amid intensifying geopolitical rivalry in Northeast Asia.

The latest diplomatic flurry saw North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui arrive in Moscow on Friday at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while senior North Korean official Pak Thae-song recently visited Beijing and China's fourth-ranking leader Wang Huning traveled to Pyongyang to mark the 65th anniversary of the Sino-North Korean Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance.

The near-simultaneous exchanges reflect Pyongyang's broader effort to deepen ties with both traditional partners rather than relying exclusively on either, allowing the Kim Jong-un regime to extract greater political, economic and security benefits while maintaining room for diplomatic maneuver.

"The current pattern should be viewed less as an urgent necessity than as an increasingly regul ...