China-North Korea Relations

The Soviet Ambassador in Beijing informs Stalin that the Chinese would commit to the Korean War if the Americans interfered and advanced north of the 38 parallel.

Stalin asks Mao to deploy five or six Chinese volunteer divisions into North Korea and provide cover for the Korean People's Army while it reorganizes. At the same time, Kim Il Sung requests the direct intervention of Chinese forces in Korea.

Kim Il Sung leads an eight-member delegation to Beijing to request economic aid. He receives a loan of eight trillion Chinese yuan, three trillion of which was to be paid back in 1954 and the rest to be paid back in 1955-1977.

North Korea requests the removal of all foreign troops from Korea. Later this month, Zhou Enlai visits the DPRK and agrees to the withdrawal of Chinese forces from the peninsula.

Kim Il Sung visits China for approximately one month. A dinner is held in his honor to celebrate Sino-Korean camaraderie.

Kim Il Sung visits Beijing to attend the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. He pledges his friendship to the Chinese people.

North Korea and China sign the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance. This Treaty obligates the People's Republic of China to provide military assistance if the DPRK comes under attack.

North Korea reprints a Chinese editorial that exposes the collusion of Soviet and Indian leaders to oppose China.

Chinese Red Guard wall posters that denounce Kim Il Sung and his deputies first appear, indicating the deterioration of Sino-North Korean relations. Some posters allege that General Kim Gwang-hyeop had been arrested by Choe Yong-geon, and while North Korea refutes the rumor as intolerable slander by capitalist countries, Kim Gwang-hyeop's purge from the DPRK government suggests that the posters may have accurately reflected internal dissension in North Korea.

China’s Zhou Enlai visits Pyongyang, which is the first high-level contact since 1964. North Korean leader Kim Il Sung expresses his gratitude for Beijing’s support during the Korean War and discusses shared Sino-DPRK interests and concerns.

Kim Il Sung makes a secret trip to Beijing.

Zhou Enlai visits Pyongyang to update Kim Il Sung about the recent development of Sino-U.S. relations. Zhou Enlai informed Kim Il Sung that Nixon will not tolerate Japan’s intervention in Taiwan and the North’s intervention in the South.

DPRK President Kim Il Sung arrives in Beijing for a state visit and asks for Chinese support for an invasion of South Korea, but his request is turned down.

Deng Xiaoping, Vice-Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, visits North Korea.

Kim Il Sung visits Beijing to reciprocate the earlier visit by Hu Yaobang and Deng Xiaoping to Pyongyang, to show that he has restored friendly relations with China. Kim reiterates North Korea and China's firm friendship and acknowledges the Chinese assistance during the Korean War.

South Korea normalizes relations with China.