Compared with the relationship between China and Pakistan, many people were more optimistic about the "good brothers" of China and North Korea in the seventies and eighties of the last century.
After all, at that time, China was still helping North Korea when the Korean War broke out and carried out a vigorous military operation to resist US aggression and aid Korea, but what is shocking is that China's relations with North Korea cracked in 1965.
After 1965, relations between North Korea and China continued to deteriorate, until the collapse of the Soviet Union, when relations between North Korea and China reconciled again.
The collapse of the USSR
So why did North Korea drift away from China after 1965? And what caused this relationship to be reunited?
The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea forged profound friendship
In August 1945, the Soviet Red Army launched a new round of military war against the Japanese Kwantung Army, and soon Soviet forces penetrated into the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.
The Soviet Union's war was a great opportunity for Kim Il-sung to take office, when Kim Il-sung had already accumulated some political fame by dealing with Japanese invaders during World War II, and Kim Il-sung took advantage of this opportunity to reach the pinnacle of his life and become the leader of North Korea.
Bronze statue of Kim Il Sung
But before Kim Il-sung could take the first position as leader, North Korea was mired in a quagmire, and when the Korean War broke out in June 1950, North Korean leaders did not initially see it as a protracted war, believing it would end soon.
However, the United States, the world leader at the time, suddenly stepped in and completely disrupted North Korea's battle plan, and North Korea became the target of public criticism overnight.
In the early days of the Korean War, China immediately began to aid North Korea, donating 20 billion yuan to North Korea and providing thousands of tons of food to North Korea.
Korean
In addition to material and economic aid, China also sent 1.35 million volunteers to support North Korea, and it was the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea that made North Korea see that China is a real friend worth making.
In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Chinese soldiers braved the cold and fought with the Korean People's Army on the battlefield to fight the enemy, which was a fateful friendship, and the two countries also forged a deep friendship.
The heroic deeds of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea are still widely praised by the masses of the two countries, but at that time, while China and North Korea fought together to resist and kill the enemy, there was still fierce internal fighting within North Korea, and it was the internal strife in North Korea that caused a rift in the relations between China and North Korea.
Korean
Kim Il Sung insisted on going his own way, and there was a rift in Sino-North Korean relations
In 1951, Kim Il-sung dismissed General Moojeong on charges of "losing Pyongyang and fighting unfavorably," which caused chaos in North Korea, and shortly thereafter, Kim Il-sung made another decision to remove Park Il-woo from the Yan'an faction.
At that time, there were two factions in North Korea, the Yan'an faction and the pro-Soviet faction, the Yan'an faction was close to China, and the pro-Soviet faction was close to the Soviet Union.
From these actions, it is obvious that Kim Il Sung's careful thinking can be seen, Kim Il Sung is eradicating dissidents for himself, and taking the initiative to get close to the Soviet Union, and began to be cold to China, after all, China and the Soviet Union at that time were indeed not the same.
Bronze statue of Kim Il Sung
Although Kim Il Sung turned his back on his friendship with China, China at that time did not accuse Kim Il Sung of his actions in order to maintain relations between the two countries.
In July 1953, the Korean War ended, and the big problem of internal and external troubles had been solved, and the DPRK could naturally devote itself wholeheartedly to internal struggle.
After the end of the Korean War, Kim Il Sung was eager to put forward his own "theme idea" to replace the Marxism believed in by the Korean People's Army, but several important figures of the remaining Yan'an faction opposed it, which made Kim Il Sung very embarrassed and angry.
Korean War
In 1958, when the last volunteer soldiers retreated to North Korea's wishes, Kim Il-sung seized the opportunity to launch a large-scale campaign inside North Korea, and since then, the Yan'an faction has become a historical term and ceased to exist in North Korea.
Relations between North Korea and China continue to deteriorate, and China and North Korea are drifting apart.
In 1964, under Kim Il-sung, North Korea joined the Soviet-led Economic Mutual Association, officially becoming the Soviet Union's junior brother, while distancing itself from China.
In 1970, Premier Zhou Enlai visited North Korea, and North Korea's attitude was the same as in 1958, and Premier Zhou Enlai's visit to China was a concession made by China, but North Korea ignored it.
Premier Zhou Enlai
After the new Soviet leader took office, the Soviet Union began to blatantly suppress the United States, and North Korea, as the pawn of the Soviet Union, was even more benevolent to provoke the beam, and China gave a goodwill reminder, hoping that North Korea would not rely too much on the Soviet Union, but North Korea took China's kind reminder as sowing discord, and China-North Korea relations once again encountered Waterloo.
China helped each other with righteousness, and China and the DPRK returned to goodwill
North Korea thought that it could follow the Soviet Union in eating and drinking spicy food, but this good wish was soon broken, and Gorbachev's new official took office with three fires, the first of which set the economic mutual association system on fire.
Gorbachev believed that the large amount of aid to North Korea and Cuba had slowed the Soviet Union's progress, so he directly conveyed to Kim Il Sung through the Soviet ambassador to North Korea that the Soviet Union would no longer provide special assistance to North Korea, and that if North Korea wanted to continue to obtain grain from the Soviet Union, it would need to buy it completely at international market prices.
Gorbachev
I have to admit that Gorbachev's move is really exceptional, and it directly caused the living standards of the North Korean masses to plummet.
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, North Korea lost its proud backer, North Korea's economic level showed a cliff-like decline, and the food and clothing of the local people in North Korea became an urgent problem to be solved.
Unlike North Korea's embarrassment at the time, at this time, China's development was already more than a star and a half stronger than before, so North Korea began to turn its attention to China.
North Korea is in a quandary
North Korea began to ask China for help, hoping that China could reach out to help this once good brother, and in the face of North Korea's help, China ignored previous suspicions and provided righteous support to North Korea.
China provided 30 million yuan in aid to North Korea free of charge, and at the same time, it also shipped 520,000 tons of grain to North Korea, solving North Korea's urgent needs.
China's move once again made North Korea understand that China is North Korea's real good friend and brother.
China-DPRK relations are reconciled
After the death of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il became the successor of North Korea's new generation, changing the previous attitude of indifference to China, and since then, relations between North Korea and China have been as good as ever.