TENSIONS SIMMERING on the Korean peninsula over the North’s sinking of a South Korean navy vessel took a fresh twist yesterday when China, North Korea’s only meaningful ally, accused its neighbour of killing three Chinese at the border last week.
Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference in Beijing that a North Korean border guard last Friday shot four Chinese residents from the northeastern border town of Dandong, killing three of them and wounding a fourth.
The soldier opened fire as he believed they were crossing the border for illegal trade. Much of the trade between the two neighbours takes place in this bustling border town. A Seoul-based group of defectors called North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity reported on its website that the Chinese were trying to smuggle copper from North Korea by boat when they were shot. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il came through Dandong by train during a recent visit to China.
“On the morning of June 4th, some residents of Dandong, in Liaoning province, were shot by a DPRK border guard on suspicion of crossing the border for trade activities,” Mr Qin said, adding that Beijing had formally complained to North Korea over the incident. “China attaches great importance to that and has immediately raised a solemn representation with the DPRK. Now the case is under investigation,” he said.
The event is significant because of the closeness that exists between North Korea and China, and Pyongyang cannot risk angering China.
North Korea is an international pariah for its nuclear ambitions, which culminated in a nuclear weapon test last year, earning Pyongyang a raft of damaging sanctions from the United Nations. The sinking of the Cheonan frigate in March, by what independent observers say was a North Korean vessel, resulted in the death of 46 sailors. Pyongyang has denied it was involved.
China considers North Korea a “little brother” and the two countries are often described as being “as close as lips and teeth”.