It is in Beijing’s interest to have a stable relationship with North Korea, a state-controlled newspaper said yesterday during a reported visit to China by the impoverished state’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il, and his son.
A source with knowledge of the secretive trip told reporters at the weekend that the two Kims were on a trip to China, but there has been no official confirmation from either government.
“Maintaining and stabilizing the current relationship between China and North Korea is of maximum benefit to China,” the popular Chinese-language tabloid Global Times said in an editorial.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
China is the only major supporter for North Korea, which is largely isolated from the international community over its nuclear weapons program and which has come under further condemnation after South Korea accused it of sinking one of its warships earlier this year.
Kim Jong-il, 68, who rarely travels abroad, is reportedly in China for the second time this year. This time he is thought to have brought along his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, widely seen as the next head of the family dynasty that has led North Korea since its founding more than 60 years ago.
Yesterday, police lined the streets in Tumen, a city on China’s border with North Korea, a sign that Kim Jong-il may visit there, but there have been no definite sightings of him.
Kim may be lining up China behind succession plans involving his son, foreign analysts have said.
The Workers’ Party (WPK), which rubber-stamps big decisions in the North, is due to hold a rare meeting next month that could set in motion succession steps.
The Chinese newspaper blamed outside forces for pressuring North Korea as a way to create trouble for China, the sole major economic and diplomatic supporter of its much weaker neighbor.
The sinking of the South Korean navy ship, in which 46 sailors died, deepened tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul and strained Chinese ties with South Korea.
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
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