Beijing: Affronted by Japan's continued
speculation about North Korea's stability after the death of
Kim Jong-il, Pyongyang on Wednesday ridiculed the frequent changes of
Japanese premiers, saying the country has become "the laughing
stock of the world."
The North's official Korean Central News Agency
criticised some Japanese lawmakers and commentators for
speculating a possible collapse of the system in North Korea
in the wake of the death of its top leader Kim in December.
"Japan has topped the world list of replacement of prime
ministers, becoming the laughing stock of the world and not a
day passes without unstable domestic politics," KCNA said in a
commentary. "Hence, Japan will never understand the social
system in the DPRK, most stable in the world."
DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The KCNA also criticised Japan for failing to offer
official condolences on Kim Jong-il's death and blocking a
visit to Pyongyang by a senior member of the General
Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, to pay
respects.
"The Japanese authorities feared that their flexible
attitude towards the great loss the Korean nation suffered
might cause the support rate for them to further sink," KCNA
said in a separate commentary yesterday.
"Precisely for this reason the present rulers took a
high-handed attitude to meet the interests of the anti-DPRK
forces who consider the abduction issue as a lever for keeping
themselves alive," it said, stressing the issue of past
abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korea "no longer
exists."
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, January 04, 2012, 16:29