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China knew early of Kim Jong-il's death - reports
SEOUL | Wed Dec 21, 2011 7:20am IST
(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/12/21/korea-north-china-idINDEE7BK00R20111221
(Reuters) - China, North Korea's primary ally, learned on Saturday North Korea's enigmatic leader Kim Jong-il had died that day, two days before Pyongyang's official announcement, a leading South Korean newspaper reported on Wednesday.
韩国一媒体星期三说,中国在当日获得 金II 死讯。
JoongAng Ilbo quoted an unidentified source in Beijing as saying the Chinese ambassador to North Korea had obtained intelligence of Kim's death and reported it to the capital on December 17, the day Kim died of an apparent heart attack while on a train.
韩国《中央日报》引述说,中国大使馆在17号获得了情报并上报给了北京。
"North Korean informed China of Kim's death through diplomatic channels on the following day," the source was quoted as saying.
北韩则在18号通过外交渠道通知了北京。
South Korea's foreign ministry told a press briefing on Tuesday that China did not know of the death in advance of North Korea's official announcement.
韩国外长则说中国没有事先知道。
"We heard several times that (China) did not find out (Kim's death) beforehand," said the ministry's spokesman Cho Byung-jae.
Top South Korean intelligence and military officials have come under criticism for failing to learn of Kim's death before the official announcement by Pyongyang.
南韩情报部门因未能提前获得消息 而倍受指责。
When South Korean President Lee Myung-bak left on a state visit for Japan last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had been dead for about four hours, indicating that neither Seoul nor Tokyo -- or Washington -- had any inkling of his death.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service chief Won Sei-hoon told lawmakers that China might have detected some signals earlier but he could not verify it, according to media reports.
China has given no official comment or even hints suggesting it was told of Kim's death before the public announcement. But Beijing has in the past been give advance notice from North Korea of major events, diplomats have said. In 2006, North Korea told China 20 minutes or more beforehand that it would hold its first nuclear test blast, they said.
中国官方没有回应。但过去中国一直提前获得消息。
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