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According to a diplomatic source, Kim made the remark during a welcome luncheon last Saturday and in a seminar on Monday, sponsored by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) and the Korea Society. China has no great influence on North Korea, he was quoted as saying, adding the U.S. should not pin too great hopes on China in finding solutions to the nuclear problem. The chief nuclear negotiator said the U.S. over the last six years relied on China for the solution to the nuclear issue. “What has it achieved? We have test-fired missiles and conducted a nuclear test, doing what we wanted to do. China has solved nothing,” the source quoted him as saying. Pundits say Kim apparently wanted to stress to U.S. officials the importance of bilateral talks between Washington and Pyongyang. One North Korea expert in China said Kim finally got a chance to say what the North has long wanted to tell the U.S. about China. “This was a strong message that North Korea wants direct talks with the U.S.," the expert said.

Still, experts say Kim would not have made the remarks if North Korea didn’t have reason to be miffed at China, possibly because Beijing consulted Washington first in preparing the six-party agreement reached on Feb. 13 and only tried to persuade North Korea afterwards. The North also apparently feels piqued that China, the real owner of the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia, cooperated with the U.S. in freezing North Korean assets worth $24 million in BDA accounts.

Some analysts point out that North Korean diplomats including Kim Kye-gwan base their thinking on the Juche or self-reliance ideology of former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung. They say Kim Kye-gwan may simply have been expressing his own feelings in a somewhat crude manner during the meetings. Thus North Korea has also made it clear to China at every opportunity that it will refuse aid if it comes with political conditions attached. But the North Korea-Chinese strategic alliance is unlikely to weaken. Only this week, the reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il very publicly attended a party at the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang.

(englishnews@chosun.com )