North Korea has criticized and opposed China's plans to install broadcasting facilities near its border, South Korea's Kyodo news agency reported, citing an email addressed to an international telecommunications organization. The agency wrote that the current state of relations between Beijing and Pyongyang does not appear to be “normal.”
The conflict came to light after the Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union (ITU) released information in June containing plans to build China 191 telecommunications stations used, among other things, to broadcast the FM signal, including at least 17 near the border with North Korea.
The authorities in Pyongyang stressed in an e-mail that Beijing “never requested prior consultation” on the installation, the Kyodo news agency wrote, assessing that “this is a sign that the two countries, long known for their close economic ties, may have (currently) a problem with bilateral communication.”
The North Korean regime has said that building the transmitters without prior agreement would be a “violation” of ITU guidelines, as well as a bilateral agreement signed in 1981 – the details of which are not known. Additionally, the stations in Dandong, a border city in northeastern China, could cause “serious interference”.
“A rare case of conflict being revealed”
Atsuhito Isozaki, an expert on North Korea politics, told the agency that “this is a rare case of a conflict between China and North Korea being exposed,” adding that possible signs of worsening relations could also be seen in the government daily Rodong Sinmun.
Isozaki noted that the paper had not mentioned Chinese leader Xi Jinping or the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations for months, adding that the current state of relations did not appear to be “normal.”
Pyongyang wants to tighten relations with Moscow
In July, the South Korean Unification Ministry also reported that North Korea transferred the transmission of the state television signal from a Chinese satellite to a Russian one.
Kyodo recalls that Pyongyang is seeking closer ties with Russia since Moscow started its invasion Ukraine on a full scale, especially in the defense sector, including by signing a strategic partnership treaty in June, which, according to diplomatic sources in Beijing, did not please China.
According to South Korean authorities, Kim Jong-un's regime has transferred to Moscow at least 10,000 containers of weapons, including as many as 4.8 million artillery shells similar to those used by Putin during the bombing of Ukraine.
Main image source: MIKHAIL METZEL/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN.RU