During his secretive trip to China earlier this month, Kim Jong-il personally claimed, in his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao that North Korea was not responsible for the Cheonan sinking, a local daily said Saturday citing a government source.
Citing an unnamed senior government official, the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said during Kim's trip to China from May 3 to 7, he told Hu that "(The North) has nothing to do with the Cheonan."
Earlier on May 7, the Chinese side briefed to South Korea on Kim's visit. At that time, Beijing told Seoul that Pyongyang had explained to Beijing that it was not responsible for the fatal sinking of the 88-meter-long South Korean navy corvette.
But the Chinese side at that time didn't specify who from the North Korean side made that explication.
The official also claimed that the Chinese side was disappointed with the North when they got to know the evidence indicating the North's culpability presented by a team of international investigators later, it said.
During a meeting on Wednesday between President Lee Myung-bak and the U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, the two mentioned about how China was dismayed by North Korea (for its lying), it said, citing another high-ranking, yet also unnamed, government official.
It also didn't say whether the remark was brought up by Clinton or by Lee.