North Korean leader Kim Jong-un told Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that it was his “steadfast will” to “steadily develop” bilateral relations, state media said yesterday.
The two leaders held talks on Thursday evening at the Great Hall of the People, where Kim affirmed the “friendly feelings” between the two countries, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
Kim was on a rare foreign visit to China, joining Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Photo: AFP, KCNA VIA KNS
“It is the steadfast will of the WPK [Workers’ Party of Korea] and the government ... to steadily develop DPRK-China relations,” Kim was quoted as saying, using the acronym for North Korea.
He told Xi the relationship between China and North Korea “cannot change no matter how the international situation may change,” KCNA said, echoing almost exactly Xi’s comments to Kim as reported by Chinese state media.
Pyongyang will “invariably support and encourage the stand and efforts” of China to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity and development interests, Kim said.
Xi told Kim the two countries should bolster coordination on international affairs and “safeguard their common interests,” Chinese state media reported.
“Visiting China after six years, I was deeply struck by how China has transformed and developed beyond recognition,” Kim said in a video provided by China’s state broadcaster. “What hasn’t changed is the warm welcome ... no matter how the world changes, the friendship between the peoples of North Korea and China remains constant.”
In the video, Xi also reminisced about his 2019 visit to North Korea, saying that he felt a “strong sense of kinship” everywhere he went.
Kim left Beijing by his private train on Thursday evening to go back to North Korea, KCNA said.
In related news, South Korea, Japan and the US are to conduct their annual “Freedom Edge” defensive drills starting on Sept. 15 to upgrade aerial, naval and cyberoperational capabilities against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, South Korea’s military said yesterday.
The exercise is designed to implement regional peace and stability, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, adding that the drill would be conducted in compliance with international law.
The exercise follows large-scale 10-day troop mobilization drills by the South Korean and US militaries last month to assess their defense readiness against North Korean threats, which Pyongyang criticized as proof of the allies’ hostile intent against it.
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