ID :
199645
Sun, 08/07/2011 - 16:41
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/199645
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea sounded out China in April about holding joint military drill+
TOKYO, Aug. 7 Kyodo -
North Korea sounded out China in April about holding a joint military exercise to counter a U.S.-South Korea drill, but Beijing rejected the North Korean proposal on grounds that such a move would ''provoke'' Washington and Seoul, sources familiar with China-North Korea relations said Sunday.
Under the proposal, Pyongyang suggested that China allow North Korean personnel onto its submarines to gather intelligence on the U.S. military, in case Washington sends a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for its military exercise with South Korea.
Pyongyang's proposal to hold a joint drill with China ''appears to have strongly reflected'' the wishes of North Korea's leader-in-waiting Kim Jong Un, one source said. Last September, Kim Jong Un, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's third son, was made a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, and a four-star general of the Korean People's Army.
The idea of holding a joint military drill with China is apparently part of North Korea's efforts to give credit to junior Kim's position in North Korea's military hierarchy, the source said.
Another diplomatic source said North Korea ''may have tried to tie'' the proposed military drill to the visit made by the elder Kim to China in May.
As the chair of the six-party talks on the North's nuclear programs, China appears to be limiting its military support to North Korea to personnel exchanges amid concern that extending other types of support may complicate the already tense inter-Korean relations.
The denuclearization talks involving North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States have been stalled since December 2008.
Beijing spurned Pyongyang's request to stage joint military maneuvers even though China fought in the 1950-1953 Korea War and has a formal mutual security treaty with Pyongyang. Experts say military ties between the two countries are ''the chilliest area'' in bilateral relations since China established diplomatic ties with South Korea in 1992.
While Chinese military attaches based in North Korea used to visit North Korean military units on a regular basis, Pyongyang has suspended such privileges. According to a diplomatic source, North Korea now places Chinese military attaches under strict surveillance.
China has also spurned North Korea's repeated calls to acquire the Chinese J-type fighter and buy anti-freeze fuel produced in China, diplomatic sources said.
China's refusal to North Korea's proposal for a joint military exercise contrasts starkly to growing bilateral cooperation in the economic field, such as joint development of special economic zones in border areas.
It also contrasts with Beijing's readiness to hold security-related drills with other countries. China has held joint military exercises or antiterrorism drills with Russia and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, France and other countries.
==Kyodo
2011-08-07 21:48:58
North Korea sounded out China in April about holding a joint military exercise to counter a U.S.-South Korea drill, but Beijing rejected the North Korean proposal on grounds that such a move would ''provoke'' Washington and Seoul, sources familiar with China-North Korea relations said Sunday.
Under the proposal, Pyongyang suggested that China allow North Korean personnel onto its submarines to gather intelligence on the U.S. military, in case Washington sends a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for its military exercise with South Korea.
Pyongyang's proposal to hold a joint drill with China ''appears to have strongly reflected'' the wishes of North Korea's leader-in-waiting Kim Jong Un, one source said. Last September, Kim Jong Un, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's third son, was made a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, and a four-star general of the Korean People's Army.
The idea of holding a joint military drill with China is apparently part of North Korea's efforts to give credit to junior Kim's position in North Korea's military hierarchy, the source said.
Another diplomatic source said North Korea ''may have tried to tie'' the proposed military drill to the visit made by the elder Kim to China in May.
As the chair of the six-party talks on the North's nuclear programs, China appears to be limiting its military support to North Korea to personnel exchanges amid concern that extending other types of support may complicate the already tense inter-Korean relations.
The denuclearization talks involving North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States have been stalled since December 2008.
Beijing spurned Pyongyang's request to stage joint military maneuvers even though China fought in the 1950-1953 Korea War and has a formal mutual security treaty with Pyongyang. Experts say military ties between the two countries are ''the chilliest area'' in bilateral relations since China established diplomatic ties with South Korea in 1992.
While Chinese military attaches based in North Korea used to visit North Korean military units on a regular basis, Pyongyang has suspended such privileges. According to a diplomatic source, North Korea now places Chinese military attaches under strict surveillance.
China has also spurned North Korea's repeated calls to acquire the Chinese J-type fighter and buy anti-freeze fuel produced in China, diplomatic sources said.
China's refusal to North Korea's proposal for a joint military exercise contrasts starkly to growing bilateral cooperation in the economic field, such as joint development of special economic zones in border areas.
It also contrasts with Beijing's readiness to hold security-related drills with other countries. China has held joint military exercises or antiterrorism drills with Russia and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, France and other countries.
==Kyodo
2011-08-07 21:48:58
