Thank you for that question.
There were very high hopes with the arrival of the new supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, that the position in North Korea would improve. He was a young man. He'd had education in Europe. He was said to be interested in digital technology and modern celebrities. However, the fact is that after his arrival, what followed pretty quickly was the violent execution of his uncle by marriage, Jang Song-thaek. Many of the hopes were dashed.
The endeavour of North Korea to prevent the issues being referred to the Security Council was a major focus of their diplomatic efforts during 2014 and 2015. At the end of 2014, when the matter ended up on the Security Council, everything changed very quickly. I don't think we can say that any changes since then have been hopeful. I can't see in the developments any sign that the apparent so-called charm offensive, the production of the so-called rosy report, and the engagement with Universal Periodic Review really evidenced a significant change of heart. I think these were simply steps in the hope of staving off the referral of the matter to the Security Council with the risk it carried that there might ultimately be a referral of the case of North Korea and their supreme leader to the International Criminal Court.
So I can't say that there have been signs of improvement. On the contrary, things have remained much as they were before the charm offensive.
As far as China is concerned, it's not possible to be certain about the relationships between North Korea and China. You can infer something from the fact that the president of China invited the president of the Republic of Korea, or South Korea, to come to China in advance of any invitation to the president of DPRK, and that the supreme leader of the fraternal party in North Korea to this day has not been invited to China. That does appear to be a significant fact and a significant omission. Jang Song-thaek, the uncle, was a politician who was believed to be favourable to the so-called China path of engagement, of economic progress, and of taking a new opening to the western countries, but his murderous execution and the violence that was involved in that would appear to be an indication that this path is not currently favoured by the regime in North Korea.
So to answer your questions, I don't see much progress, and the China situation is something of a riddle. There doesn't appear to be any improvement in China's expression of strong admonition to North Korea to engage with other countries in the region and the world, not only on the issue of human rights but also on the nuclear issue, which must be of concern to everybody.