China reports 3 killed along border with North Korea

BEIJING — A Chinese city has reported the killings of three villagers in an area where North Korean border guards have been accused of crossing over to commit thefts and slayings.

The Helong city government said a 55-year-old man surnamed Zhao, his 26-year-old daughter and another man aged 67 were killed Saturday. It said in a statement Thursday that police from the provincial level down were investigating.

The killings took place in Longcheng township along the North Korean border, not far from where at least seven villagers were reported killed last year by border guards who had crossed the Tumen River, which separates the countries, in search of money and food.

The guards in the earlier incidents are believed to have fled back into North Korea and no arrests have been reported.

Calls to Helong city and Yanbian prefecture government spokesmen rang unanswered on Thursday.

China is North Korea’s chief source of trade, diplomatic support and food and fuel assistance, but the North’s desperate economic situation is testing the traditionally close relationship. Underpaid and underfed border guards have reportedly been terrorizing Chinese villagers in recent years, especially in winter when the frozen river makes crossing over easily.

More than 1 million North Koreans are believed to have died in a famine in the 1990s and the country remains heavily dependent on food aid, although the political elite and military receive preferential rations.

Border attacks are believed to have grown over the past two years after a crackdown on crossings by ordinary North Koreans deprived guards of income from bribes. Chinese fishermen have also been held for ransom after being seized by North Korean boats in the Yellow Sea dividing the countries.

The growing frequency of cross-border violence has sparked fears among Chinese residents and increased vigilance from local governments, said Lu Chao, an expert on North Korea at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences in northeast China.

“Some degree of panic is inevitable because attacks by North Korean guards are not simply ordinary thefts or robberies,” Lu said. In most cases, Chinese and North Korean officials consult over how to deal with such crimes, including paying compensation to the families of the Chinese victims, he said.

Beyond the fear they inspire, such attacks underscore a substantial cooling of ties since Kim Jong Un took over as supreme leader of North Korea in 2012.

China has been repeatedly rebuffed in its attempts to convince the North to rejoin multinational talks on its nuclear programs, exposing it to criticism for supporting the hard-line communist regime in Pyongyang. Beijing also was shocked by the 2013 execution of Kim’s uncle Jang Song Thaek, who had been a key proponent of North Korea-China relations.

The 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) border between the sides runs through mountainous terrain from the Yellow Sea to the Sea of Japan. Sections near the key Chinese city of Dandong are fortified with fences and guard posts, but more remote areas boast few barriers other than rivers and cliffs.