A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman denied reports about informal apologies offered to Beijing by the North Korean dictator, who has no plans to undertake new tests but does not exclude them. According to anonymous sources, China may back a coup d'etat to overthrow him.
Beijing (AsiaNews) North Korean leader Kim Jong Il "did not apologize to a Chinese delegation for his regime's nuclear test on 9 October" but said "he did not have the will to carry out a second test." However, the dictator "reserved the right to take further actions if his government faced more pressure". This was revealed today by Liu Jianchao, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, during a press briefing in Beijing.
Liu was commenting about disclosures published last week by some South Korean dailies that claimed Kim had "expressed regret with China for the nuclear test" during a visit to Pyongyang by a Chinese delegation led by State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan. "These reports are certainly not accurate and we haven't heard any information that Kim Jong-il apologized for the test," said Liu.
In any case, the nuclear test has dealt a heavy blow to ties between Pyongyang and Beijing. Although the dictator did not present his apologies to the main backer of his government, the delegation delivered a private and personal message from the Chinese president Hu Jintao, which Kim responded to.
Moreover, China's reaction to the "nuclear provocation" on 9 October has been very tough: even if it did not sanction the inclusion of the use of force in UN sanctions, Beijing described the test as "brazen" and "forcefully urged" Pyongyang to respect negotiations for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
These reasons have prompted a US weekly to speculate that "a coup may happen in North Korea, backed if not prepared by Beijing". The weekly, citing anonymous Chinese and Korean sources, claimed that "an unprecedented debate'' has taken place in Beijing and some "close advisers" to the government are all for "the possibility of a peaceful overthrow not of the regime, but of the dictator, who would be replaced by an army officer."