By Zachary Keck
North Korea has reassumed openly criticizing Beijing, according to new reports.
North Korea has hung signs denouncing China in one of its premier military academies, according to a report in a South Korean newspaper.
Chosun Ilbo, a conservative South Korean newspaper, reports that a sign in North Korea’s Kang Kon Military Academy states that China is a “turncoat and our enemy.” The newspaper bases the reports on “sources” without any further identification information. It quotes another source as saying: “”The position of the North Korean regime is to use China, but not trust it.”
The fact that the newspaper has not provided any further identification information about its sources have led some to criticize Chosun Ilbo and doubt the accuracy of the report. However, calling China a “turncoat and our enemy” would hardly be unprecedented for North Korea. Indeed, the phrase is a quote from Kim Il-Sung, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) eternal president, who uttered it shortly after China established diplomatic relations with South Korea in 1992. After that, banners bearing the phrase were hung on the walls of the Kang Kon Military Academy for three years until 1995. The same banners were temporarily re-hung on the walls of the Kang Kon Military Academy after North Korea’s second nuclear test in 2009.
Read the full story at The Diplomat