China watching North Korea for impact of execution of Kim's uncle
Line-up at ceremony to mark Kim Jong-il's death likely to indicate extent of purge
China is monitoring the implications of Jang Song-thaek's execution but does not expect it to trigger major shifts in North Korea's policies, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said yesterday.
China was hoping for political stability and economic development in North Korea, Wang said on the eve of a ceremony in Pyongyang to mark the second anniversary of the death of Kim Jong-il, the father of current leader Kim Jong-un.
Analysts said the event would provide further indications of the implications of the dramatic removal last week of Jang, Kim Jong-un's once-powerful uncle.
"Some changes have indeed occurred in North Korea. We are taking further steps to monitor North Korea's internal and foreign policies. We hope and believe that there won't be any major changes," Wang was quoted by China News Service as saying.
Wang's remarks came after phone calls with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday and with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday, in which they discussed how to resume the long-stalled six-party talks on denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, according to statements on the Chinese Foreign Ministry's website.
In a contrasting tone, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said that Seoul should be fully prepared for possible North Korean hostilities and warned of more "reckless provocations" from across the border.
There have been mixed signals on how last week's removal of Jang, a key figure in North Korea's engagement with China, would affect Pyongyang's relations with Beijing, its biggest ally. The Chinese Foreign Ministry called it an "internal issue" but said Beijing hoped bilateral economic ties would continue as normal. North Korean businessmen in China have reportedly been called back home. But North Korea's ambassador to China, Ji Jae-ryong, a close confidant of Jang, appears to have remained unaffected.