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Chinese commenters air North Korea frustrations, call Kim 'fat'

By Elizabeth Shim
A Chinese news magazine featuring a front-page story on Kim Jong-un is sold at a news stand in Beijing. The North Korean leader was ridiculed on Chinese social media after the firing of a SLBM last week. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI
A Chinese news magazine featuring a front-page story on Kim Jong-un is sold at a news stand in Beijing. The North Korean leader was ridiculed on Chinese social media after the firing of a SLBM last week. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

SEOUL, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- The Chinese government has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defense system on the Korean peninsula, but some Chinese online commenters see things differently.

Beijing, which recently endorsed the United Nations Security Council statement condemning North Korea's provocations, has hesitated to back previous U.N. statements because of THAAD deployment, Yonhap reported.

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But some Chinese commenters posting online say they understand the viewpoint of the South Korean government while mocking North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

Public opinion also conveyed a general frustration with North Korea provocations, including the recent test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

China's social media platform Weibo and the comments section of state tabloid Global Times included criticisms of Seoul's decision to deploy THAAD, but others said they could understand why South Korea has no choice but to deploy the missile defense system.

Some commenters also ridiculed the North Korean ruler, calling him a derogatory word that translates into "the third fat member of the Kim family."

One wrote, "To a certain extent I can understand why South Korea and the United States want to deploy THAAD...because North Korea's Fatty Kim without principle easily and quickly fires missiles," comparing the act to flatulence.

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Another commenter said deploying THAAD is like applying mosquito repellent, and a third commenter said the deployment is good because "If South Korea decides to develop its own nuclear weapons, then guess whose headache that will be," Yonhap reported.

A fourth complained that China cannot chide North Korea even as the "third fatty Kim develops nuclear weapons."

"Is there a more tough country than North and South Korea?" the commenter lamented.

Beijing has raised concerns THAAD's powerful radar could be used to monitor the country, but the United States and South Korea have attempted to persuade China to approach the issue differently.

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