On Wednesday, North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency ran a commentary piece which, in a rare move, criticized China directly for its “reckless remarks” on the North’s nuclear program. The North warned that China was testing its patience and that such actions would trigger “grave” consequences.
“China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK’s patience,” the commentary warned, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations.”
As quoted by Fox News, the KNCA piece also said that “a string of absurd and reckless remarks are now heard from China everyday only to render the present bad situation tenser.”
The commentary was written by someone named Kim Chol, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In another piece published Thursday in North Korea’s state run Rodong Sinmun, the North warned Beijing that it was crossing a “red line” for “dancing to the tune of the U.S.” and giving leaders in Washington more reasons to deploy military assets to the Korea Peninsula.
“We didn’t cross the ‘red line’ of the (North Korea)-China relationship,” the commentary in Rodong Sinmun said, as quoted by CNN. “China is violently stomping on and crossing it without hesitation.”
Both North Korean publications were responding to recent pieces published in two of China’s state-run newspapers, the People’s Daily and Global Times, which the North claims criticized them for continuing to build their nuclear program.
“(North Korea) will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China, risking its nuclear program which is a precious as its own life, no matter how valuable the friendship is,” the commentary continued.
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