NK army \'wants early nuclear test\'

BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- North Korea may bring the date of a planned nuclear test forward after a contentious remark by China's U.N. ambassador angered generals in the reclusive country, a source with close ties to Pyongyang said on Sunday.

U.S. envoy John Bolton said last week that while Britain, France and Japan had made clear a strong statement was needed to warn Pyongyang against testing, he was not certain "what North Korea's protectors on the (U.N. Security) Council are going to do".

In response, Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya said: "I'm not sure which country he is referring to, but I think that for bad behavior in this world no one is going to protect them."

Wang's remark riled North Korean generals who bristled at the notion of needing China's protection and urged their leader, Kim Jong-il, to bring the test date forward, said the source who requested anonymity.

"North Korea is especially unhappy with China," the source told Reuters after speaking with senior North Korean officials.

"This is chauvinism. North Korea does not need Chinese protection. North Korea is no longer a dependency," the source cited the North Koreans as saying.

Korea was a Chinese protectorate for several centuries until Japan seized it as a colony in 1910.

Pyongyang's nuclear test could now come as early as this week, the source said.

A second source with ties to the Chinese leadership said Beijing was alarmed that the chosen test site, deep inside an old coal mine in the north of the country, was just a few hundred kilometers (miles) from the Chinese border.

"It could have grave consequences on the environment in northeast China," said the source who asked not to be identified.

China's relations with North Korea were long characterized as being "as close as lips and teeth" after they fought side-by-side during the 1950-53 Korean War. China is a major aid donor but bilateral ties soured in recent months with Pyongyang complaining that Beijing was failing to champion its interests.

Ties would be further strained if North Korea were to conduct the nuclear test while this week's plenary session of the elite Central Committee of China's ruling Communist Party was under way. The gathering opened on Sunday and was due to run until Wednesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe flew to Beijing on Sunday for consultations with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on the North Korean nuclear threat. He was due to travel on to Seoul for talks with South Korean leaders on Monday.

The first source reiterated that despite the generals' wishes, there was still a chance North Korea might hold off on the test if it could win concessions from the United States.

"China, South Korea and Japan should convince the United States to drop financial sanctions and respect our sovereign right to peaceful use of nuclear energy instead of trying to stop us from testing," the source said.

North Korea attended several rounds of six-party talks with South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China between 2003 and 2005 in an attempt to resolve the problem of its nuclear weapons ambitions. Then Pyongyang walked out, and has refused to return until Washington lifts financial sanctions over its alleged counterfeiting, money-laundering and drug trafficking.

If China fails to bring North Korea back to the six-party talks and Pyongyang proceeds with testing, China will be a "loser in this game and suffer in a massive way", political commentator Frank Zhou wrote in a recent essay.

"China will lose credibility and some luster of its becoming a new power for other countries to reckon with in the global hall of powers," Zhou wrote.BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- North Korea may bring the date of a planned nuclear test forward after a contentious remark by China's U.N. ambassador angered generals in the reclusive country, a source with close ties to Pyongyang said on Sunday.

U.S. envoy John Bolton said last week that while Britain, France and Japan had made clear a strong statement was needed to warn Pyongyang against testing, he was not certain "what North Korea's protectors on the (U.N. Security) Council are going to do".

In response, Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya said: "I'm not sure which country he is referring to, but I think that for bad behavior in this world no one is going to protect them."

Wang's remark riled North Korean generals who bristled at the notion of needing China's protection and urged their leader, Kim Jong-il, to bring the test date forward, said the source who requested anonymity.

"North Korea is especially unhappy with China," the source told Reuters after speaking with senior North Korean officials.

"This is chauvinism. North Korea does not need Chinese protection. North Korea is no longer a dependency," the source cited the North Koreans as saying.

Korea was a Chinese protectorate for several centuries until Japan seized it as a colony in 1910.

Pyongyang's nuclear test could now come as early as this week, the source said.

A second source with ties to the Chinese leadership said Beijing was alarmed that the chosen test site, deep inside an old coal mine in the north of the country, was just a few hundred kilometers (miles) from the Chinese border.

"It could have grave consequences on the environment in northeast China," said the source who asked not to be identified.

China's relations with North Korea were long characterized as being "as close as lips and teeth" after they fought side-by-side during the 1950-53 Korean War. China is a major aid donor but bilateral ties soured in recent months with Pyongyang complaining that Beijing was failing to champion its interests.

Ties would be further strained if North Korea were to conduct the nuclear test while this week's plenary session of the elite Central Committee of China's ruling Communist Party was under way. The gathering opened on Sunday and was due to run until Wednesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe flew to Beijing on Sunday for consultations with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on the North Korean nuclear threat. He was due to travel on to Seoul for talks with South Korean leaders on Monday.

The first source reiterated that despite the generals' wishes, there was still a chance North Korea might hold off on the test if it could win concessions from the United States.

"China, South Korea and Japan should convince the United States to drop financial sanctions and respect our sovereign right to peaceful use of nuclear energy instead of trying to stop us from testing," the source said.

North Korea attended several rounds of six-party talks with South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China between 2003 and 2005 in an attempt to resolve the problem of its nuclear weapons ambitions. Then Pyongyang walked out, and has refused to return until Washington lifts financial sanctions over its alleged counterfeiting, money-laundering and drug trafficking.

If China fails to bring North Korea back to the six-party talks and Pyongyang proceeds with testing, China will be a "loser in this game and suffer in a massive way", political commentator Frank Zhou wrote in a recent essay.

"China will lose credibility and some luster of its becoming a new power for other countries to reckon with in the global hall of powers," Zhou wrote.