China 'recalculating' policy towards North Korea: Obama

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama said there were signs that China was recalculating his policy towards North Korea out of frustration at leader Kim Jong Un's nuclear brinkmanship.

In an interview with ABC News aired on Wednesday, Mr Obama said that the latest alarming threats from Pyongyang following its third nuclear test were also not necessarily more dangerous than others in its long history of belligerence.

The US leader said that it was "promising" that China, which had historically tolerated "misbehavior" by the North Koreans because it was worried about regime collapse, was changing its thinking.

"You're starting to see them recalculate and say, 'You know what? This is starting to get out of hand'," Mr Obama said, although he did not give examples of a modified attitude from Beijing.