The ONLY thing that has kept the North Korean government from collapsing completely has been aid from China. That may be in danger of ending.

From: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/international/asia/13korea.html?oref=login

Chinese News Media Critical of North Korea

By KEITH BRADSHER and JAMES BROOKE
Published: February 13, 2005

BEIJING, Sunday, Feb. 13 - China on Sunday publicly called for the Korean peninsula to be free of nuclear weapons and urged North Korea to return to regional talks regarding its nuclear program. State-run Chinese media and censored Internet chat rooms were uncommonly critical of Pyongyang for having announced Thursday that it had manufactured nuclear weapons.
The official New China News Agency reported Sunday morning that Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing of China had spoken by phone on Saturday night with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Mr. Li called for the regional negotiations to resume as soon as possible and for the "denuclearization" of the peninsula, the agency said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry had made similar points late Thursday night but at a much more junior level, with the statement issued in the name of Kong Quan, the chief spokesman. Bush administration officials have made little secret of their hope of recruiting China's help to put pressure on North Korea.
China has more influence with North Korea than any other country does, providing it with much of its fuel, food and other supplies - although even Chinese influence has proved limited at times.
The broad criticism by state-run media is important because the Chinese government has tended to take a protective position, at least in public, toward North Korea, its neighbor and sometime ally.

China has become away of the fact that instability on its borders is not a good thing. North Korea has become a liability instead of an asset. Maybe it is time to pull the plug.