China is unlikely to dispatch an official delegation to this week's third death anniversary of North Korea's former leader Kim Jong-il as Pyongyang has yet to invite Beijing, an informed diplomatic source said Monday.



Wednesday will mark the third anniversary of the death of Kim, whose iron-fist rule and pursuit of nuclear weapons stoked regional tensions for more than a decade. Kim died of heart failure on Dec. 17, 2011, at the age of 69, passing power onto his youngest son and the current leader, Kim Jong-un.



"To my knowledge, North Korea has not asked China to send its delegation to the anniversary," the source said on the condition of anonymity.



If confirmed, the absence of a Chinese delegation would represent already frosty political relations between the two allies as Beijing has signaled impatience with the unruly neighbor, particularly after the North's third nuclear test early last year.



A Chinese state-run newspaper that has close ties with China's ruling Communist Party, the Global Times, asked the North Korean Embassy in Beijing whether China has been invited or not.



However, the North Korean Embassy declined to comment on it, according to an article published by the newspaper's website Monday.



North Korea has banned foreign tourists from entering the country since late October and has required all foreigners visiting the North to be put under quarantine for 21 days as a precaution against the spread of Ebola.



Apparently due to the strict Ebola travel ban, North Korea also did not invite Chinese and Japanese personnel to this week's anniversary, according to another diplomatic source.



"Last year, North Korea asked Chinese businessmen and pro-North Korean personnel to take part in the anniversary, but it didn't invite them this year because of the Ebola quarantine measures," the source said. (Yonhap)