CHINA-NKOREA-POLITICS-MILITARY-KIM

The Chinese and North Korean flags attached to a railing as trucks carrying Chinese-made goods cross into North Korea on the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge at the Chinese border town of Dandong on December 18, 2013. China has lost its key North Korean interlocutor with the purging of Kim Jong-Un's uncle, but analysts say the young leader's tightening grip on power may be welcomed by Beijing, which prizes stability in its wayward nuclear-armed ally. Jang Song-Thaek was the second-most powerful member of North Korea's regime and an important link between Pyongyang and Beijing before his dramatic ouster last week, accused of being a corrupt, drug-using womaniser. AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTON (Photo by MARK RALSTON / AFP) (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)