North Korea Says China `Dancing to U.S. Tune' in Rare Spat
- State media lashes out at ‘friendly neighbor’ after coal ban
- Latest sign of strain between allies over Kim’s weapons tests
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North Korea hit out at China in an unusual hostile commentary on state-run media, denouncing the country’s decision to ban coal imports from the isolated nation as “inhumane” and vowing to carry on developing nuclear weapons.
While the piece published Thursday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency didn’t mention the country’s Cold War ally by name, it made no effort to disguise the “friendly neighbor” in question. The commentary called the coal ban “tantamount to the enemies’ moves to bring down the social system” in North Korea, which is formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.