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Chinese media scolds netizens who mocked N. Korea’s military parade

October 11, 2015

North Korean girls wear replica grenades as they parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared Saturday that his country was ready to stand up to any threat posed by the United States as he spoke at a lavish military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the North’s ruling party and trumpet his third-generation leadership. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

North Korea displays road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles, known as the KN-08, with round warheads during a military parade on Oct. 10, 2015, at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party. (Yonhap)

BEIJING (Yonhap) — A state-run newspaper published by the Chinese Communist Party Monday criticized some of the country’s Internet users for mocking North Korea’s military parade, expressing sympathy over the North’s isolation despite its defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Thousands of goose-stepping soldiers, ballistic missiles and drones took part in the North Korean military parade on Saturday celebrating the 70th anniversary of the North’s Workers’ Party.

China made a show of solidarity with North Korea by sending to the parade one of its top officials, Liu Yunshan, who ranks fifth in the Chinese Communist Party hierarchy.

Some posts and comments on Chinese Internet portals and social media platforms were critical of the North’s military parade in the days following.

Some comments described the military parade as a “circus,” with others criticizing North Korean soldiers for killing Chinese citizens in border towns, citing a series of robberies and killings by runaway North Korean soldiers.

In an editorial, the Global Times newspaper said such critical comments toward North Korea “should not represent the Chinese public’s collective attitude toward North Korea.”

The editorial urged the Chinese public to understand North Korea’s security situation, saying the North’s security is being threatened by the annual military exercises by South Korea and the United States.

Although it is not realistic that North Korea seeks to resolve the security issue by developing nuclear weapons, the Chinese public “needs to understand the security concerns” of North Korea, the editorial said.

Chinese public opinion about North Korea has been largely negative whenever the North conducted serious provocations.

When North Korea conducted its third nuclear test in February 2013, critical opinions toward North Korea among Chinese Internet users were rampant.

But, few analysts believe that such public opinions would exert influence on the Chinese government’s policy toward North Korea, with the Chinese Communist Party exercising tighter control on information on the Internet.