‘Lips and Teeth’ No More?

You may recall the recent interview I did with Chuck Downs, in which Mr. Downs spoke of China’s  efforts to  court members of the North Korean military.  Downs suggested that this was a key concern to Kim Jong Il, and may have motivated him to test his officers’ loyalty.  According to this report, the North Koreans have just managed to roll up China’s spy network inside North Korea.

CHINA’S People’s Liberation Army is pushing the Government to get tough with North Korea after a Chinese spy sold information to Pyongyang that led to the collapse of Beijing’s main intelligence network in the Stalinist state.

A well-informed Hong Kong-based Chinese language publication, Asia Week, reported that the co-ordinator of one of China’s intelligence networks in North Korea, who was based in the Chinese border city of Yanji, sold key information to the North Koreans for about $400,000.

“As a result, the network was dissolved. Since then, China’s intelligence on North Korea has been weak,” the report said. This accounts for Chinese intelligence continuing to downplay as unlikely a North Korean nuclear test, even on the eve of this month’s underground blast.

There’s just one problem with all of this:  I really don’t believe a single word of it.  But it’s fun stuff, no?  According to the report, China is also upset about North Korean soldiers shooting and kidnapping its people, including its soldiers:

On Monday, the PLA held a memorial ceremony for Li Liang, who was killed by fire from five North Korean soldiers when he shot at them after they had crossed the border. Border guard Li, in the army’s Second Regiment, was attempting to prevent the kidnapping of Chinese intelligence officers at Guangping, a small town on the 1300km frontier.

An officer at Yanbian PLA base later said: “We have designated him as a model soldier.” A series of 30 articles about him is being published in the army newspaper.

The officer said the kidnappers eventually escaped without their targets: “North Koreans crossing the border to smuggle, rob or beg are quite common here.”

Li Jiehua, the father of the dead soldier, said that he had been told the North Koreans were intending “to kidnap Chinese intelligence agents responsible for North Korean information, who were based in a villa in Guangping”.

Since this information could foreseeably be verified independently, I’d give it some chance of being true.  Read and enjoy.