THE defection of a senior North Korean official and his aide to the South Korean embassy in Beijing has placed China at the centre of an embarrassing diplomatic crisis - involving its old communist ally on the one hand and its new capitalist business partner on the other.
A Chinese government spokesman yesterday appealed for calm and denied any advance knowledge of the action of Mr Hwang Jang yop, a close confidant of the North Korean leader, Mr Kim Jong Il, and a member of the Central Committee of North Korea's ruling Workers Party.
The defection could set off a power struggle that would lead to more defections, a refugee flight and the ultimate collapse of the communist nation, a senior Japanese government official said in Tokyo.
"We really don't know if Hwang's defection was a byproduct of a power struggle," the official said. "But now everyone in North Korea's ruling structure is going to be suspicious of everyone else, as well as their own future, and that could prompt a really destructive power struggle."
Chinese police closed roads around the South Korean embassy compound in Beijing as North Korean diplomats waited and watched from cars parked just outside the cordon.
South Korean embassy staff said Mr Hwang was inside and accused North Korean officials of trying to break into a consular section of the South Korean compound overnight. North Korean officials said that Mr Hwang (73), one of the chief architects of North Korean communism, and the highest ranking Pyongyang official to seek asylum in the South, was kidnapped.
His defection, if confirmed, could be a sign of a serious fissure in the secretive North Korean leadership.
Reports from the South Korean capital Seoul said he had planned his break with the North for some months. A newspaper published letters he allegedly wrote claiming that the North Korean leader took all the credit when things went right and blamed everybody beneath him for the country's "problems.
"Regarding the passage through Beijing city by Hwang Jang yop, we were not notified in advance," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said. "We are currently investigating and verifying reports about this matter. We hope the parties concerned can deal with this matter calmly and on the basis of the overall circumstances, and appropriately handle this in the interests of the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula."
Mr Kim Ha jung, a special adviser to the South Korean Foreign Minister, Mr Yoo Chong ha, arrived in Beijing yesterday for talks with Chinese officials on what to do with Mr Hwang, who is believed to have been accompanied by his assistant, Mr Kim Dokhong.
"Last night, North Korean people who we believe were from the embassy tried to enter our consular section, but police stopped them," an embassy spokesman, Mr Chang Moon-Ik, said. He said that Mr Hwang came by taxi and asked for asylum voluntarily. A North Korean diplomat said: "I think South Korea has kidnapped these two officials. The impossible has happened."
The South Korean Foreign Minister Mr Yoo Chong-ha and his Chinese counterpart, Mr Qian Qichen, began talks today in Singapore on Mr Hwang's defection, officials said.
They were scheduled to meet for 30 minutes to discuss a South Korean appeal for safe passage from Beijing to Seoul for Mr Hwang.