North Korean state media say China dancing to US tune

TOKYO — North Korea’s state-run news agency issued a tough critique of China on Thursday, suggesting Beijing’s criticism of the North’s recent missile test and suspension of imports of North Korean coal are tantamount to the actions of an enemy state “dancing to the tune of the U.S.”

The article took a tone normally reserved for North Korea’s overt enemies — Washington, Tokyo and Seoul.

Without directly using China’s name, but referring to it as “a neighboring country, which often claims itself to be a ‘friendly neighbor,’” the Korean Central News Agency report accused Beijing of essentially abandoning North Korea in favor of the United States by cutting off imports of coal in compliance with U.N. sanctions.

“This country, styling itself a big power, is dancing to the tune of the U.S. while defending its mean behavior with such excuses that it (the suspension of coal imports) was meant not to have a negative impact on the living of the people in the DPRK but to check its nuclear program,” it said.

The article, uncharacteristically for the news agency, carried a byline, Jong Phil.