North Korea Shoots Three Chinese Dead near Border

The government of North Korea is not a source of reason. It is a sociopathocracy. In the entire world, it has one "friend," and that is the People's Republic of China. Last week, one of the North Korean border guards near the Chinese city of Dandong shot four people on the Chinese border, killing three of them. So serious is this incident that the PRC has issued a public formal protest. This is not a good time for Pyongyang to annoy Beijing.

"On the morning of June 4, some residents of Dandong, in Liaoning province, were shot by a DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- the official name of the Pyongyang regime] border guard on suspicion of crossing the border for trade activities, leaving three dead and one injured,'' Qin Gang, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said. ''China attaches great importance to that and has immediately raised a solemn representation with the DPRK. Now the case is under investigation.''

One doubts that the border guard who pulled the trigger had orders to do so specifically. It is more than likely that he simply did his job, keeping smugglers from having an easy time of things. Accidents, though, tend to cause greater trouble in global relations than outright conspiracies.

The only thing standing between North Korea and even tighter UN sanctions is China. In March, North Korea sank a South Korean warship killing 46 in the process. While the rest of the world demanded justice, Beijing dragged its feet and said, "well, let's not be hasty." Now that three of its own citizens are dead because of the Pyongyang regime's paranoia and militarism, the Chinese government needs to remind Pyongyang of the nature of their relationship. China is the only lifeline for Kim and Co., and North Korea is the aid recipient.

Zhu Feng, professor of international relations at Peking University, told the Sydney Morning Herald, ''the time will be coming for Beijing to run out of patience. The broadly shared impression in Beijing is that China's policy to the North Korean peninsula has been very badly hijacked by Dear Leader [Dictator Kim's official epithet]." The tail is wagging the dog, and it will not last long if the behavior of China's leaders in the past is any precedent.

In a tangentially related story, the Chinese police have arrested a North Korean provincial government official on charges of drug trafficking. South Korean activist Do Hee-yoon quoting a source in China said, "North Korean agents targeting South Korea have been arrested before for their involvement in drug trafficking, but it's unprecedented for a senior government trade official to be arrested for direct involvement. The Dandong Customs Office has mobilized customs officials from Dalian to probe all aspects of North Korea-China trade."

"All aspects of North Korea-China trade" may well mean the aid noose in about to tighten. What was that the Chinese say about living in interesting times?

© Copyright 2010 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

Kensington Review Home