Strategic Rivalry of Superpowers: The Role and Position of China and the United States in the North Korean Nuclear Case

The North Korean nuclear crisis, given its importance and complexity, is one of the most important areas for the emergence of strategic rivalry between the United States and China. The United States, in the guise of the UN Security Council, has issued various resolutions and sanctions in an effort to control North Korea's nuclear activities. China, though considered the most important supporter of North Korea, also disagrees with the expansion of North Korea's nuclear and missile activities. This article assesses how threatening the North Korean nuclear crisis is for the two countries. The present article seeks to answer the question that how the North Korean nuclear crisis, through the balance of threat between the United States and China, fosters strategic rivalry and conflict between the two countries. In answer to this question, it is hypothesized that on the one hand, the United States is trying to maintain its hegemonic position in the international system by resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis, and on the other hand, it seeks to undermine its emerging rival, China, by resolving the crisis. On the opposite side, China, considering the negative consequences of the nuclear crisis in the Korean Peninsula for China, has made every effort to make the most of this crisis in strategic rivalry with the United States. The research method is descriptive-analytical and its data have been collected through library studies and analyzed in the framework of Stephen Walt's Balance of Threat Theory.