China felt humiliated when North Korea defied its warnings and conducted a series of missile and nuclear provocations earlier this year, a South Korea diplomat has said, citing remarks by Chinese diplomats
“China felt humiliated over North Korea squarely challenging its request (to stop provocations),” Kim Sook, South Korea’s representative to the United Nations in New York, said in a group interview held on Thursday in Seoul. “That’s what Chinese diplomats have said privately.”
Despite reported warnings from China, North Korea’s closest ally, the communist country conducted a long-range rocket launch, suspected to be aimed at testing its ballistic missile technology, in December and its third nuclear test on Feb. 12. The provocations, condemned by the international society, including China, led to the U.N.’s adoption of two punitive resolutions, numbered 2087 and 2094.
Kim spearheaded the international discussions over the North’s provocations before the U.N.’s adoption of the resolutions, designed to diplomatically and economically punish the North for the two tests.
In departure from its previous stance to keep neutral about the international community’s efforts to punish the North, China also actively joined the U.N. moves and reportedly increased efforts to implement the punitive U.N. resolutions.
“China was very indignant about North Korea crossing a line during their military provocations, including the December missile launch and the February nuclear test,” Kim said, adding that despite this, China’s North Korean policy largely remains unchanged.
Kim deferred a U.N. decision over the adoption of Resolution 2094, condemning the North’s February nuke test, from February to March in order to help beef up the contents of it, he said. The deferring also reflects South Korea’s chairing of the U.N. Security Council in February. China agreed with the decision, he said.
The diplomat also said the North’s recent dispatch of a special envoy to China indicates the country’s intention to show off to the outside world, especially to the United States, that it is making diplomatic efforts to resolve the tensions with the international community.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent Choe Ryong-hae, the director of the General Political Bureau of North Korea’s People’s Army, as the special envoy to China last Wednesday. Choe met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing Friday, during which he conveyed Pyongyang’s willingness to open dialogue on the issue. (Yonhap News)
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
