Why provoke? the Sino US competition in East Asia and North Korea's strategic choice
ABSTRACT This article seeks to make sense of North Korean provocations in light of the Sino US strategic competition in post Cold War East Asia, where such variables as China's rise, US's pivot to Asia, and growing Sino ROK economic ties are driving the strategic choices of major states in the region. The article examines the main motivations behind Pyongyang's provocations since the end of the Cold War, discusses their implications for the Sino US strategic competition in East Asia, and offers predictions about the future of North Korean provocations. The central thesis of the article is that Pyongyang has exploited the Sino US strategic competition in East Asia for its regime survival. By raising North Korea's strategic value to China, the intensifying Sino US competition allows Pyongyang to continue provocations, regardless of Beijing's explicit opposition.