China Confirms Killings on Border With North Korea
A North Korean soldier patrols the border near the Chinese city of Dandong.
By AUSTIN RAMZY
APRIL 29, 2015
The police in a small town on China’s border with North Korea say three residents were killed early on Saturday, raising concerns of another attack by rogue North Korean soldiers crossing into the country to steal food and money.
The authorities in Helong, in Jilin Province, announced on a government microblog that a 55-year-old man, his 26-year-old daughter and a 67-year-old man had all been killed, without giving further details.
The South Korean broadcaster KBSreported on Tuesday that the three had been killed by three North Korean soldiers. Quoting local residents, KBS said the soldiers fled and were being pursued by the Chinese police in a large-scale manhunt.
A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hong Lei, declined to comment on the South Korean report of North Korean suspects when asked during a regularly scheduled news conference on Wednesday. But he confirmed the local government statement that three Chinese citizens had been killed, and he said that the police were investigating.
The case is likely to renew fears in northeastern China. While North Korea gives its military high priority for food supplies, low-level soldiers are not always well fed. The prosperity of Chinese citizens just across the border makes them a target for desperate North Koreans.
Beijing formally complained to Pyongyangafter a North Korean soldier who had crossed the border killed four Chinese civilians in December. The soldier, who was armed with a gun, was hungry and trying to rob his victims, according to a report in the Chinese state news media. The soldier was injured during his arrest in China and died in custody. Last September, a North Korean civilian who had crossed the border killed a family of three in a robbery attempt.
Although China is one of North Korea’s few allies, some analysts believe that the relationship has deteriorated since the death of Kim Jong-il in 2011. The country’s new leader, Mr. Kim’s son Kim Jong-un, is expected to make his first trip abroad not to China but to Russia in May to observe the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Follow Austin Ramzy on Twitter at@austinramzy
