In May 2017, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) published an English-language article titled “Commentary on DPRK-China relations.” The article, authored by one Kim Chol, was a clear and direct critique of Beijing, and Chinese policy toward North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Though such criticism has occurred before, this instance was the latest in only a small handful of cases in which China and the DPRK criticized each other directly and by name.

The history of Sino-DPRK mutual criticism is tied to the unwritten rule of countries within the former communist bloc – that fraternal socialist states do not criticize