Kim Jong Un vows to elevate ties with China to strategic level — Korea Herald

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping that he intends to elevate relations between Pyongyang and Beijing to a new strategic level. The message was timed to coincide with China’s National Day and the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

As Korea Herald reports, citing North Korea’s state-run KCNA agency, Kim Jong Un conveyed his warmest greetings and best wishes to Xi Jinping and the Chinese people. He stressed that the friendship between the two countries, forged at the cost of blood, would remain unshakable regardless of changes in the international situation.

Statement on strategic relations

Kim Jong Un also confirmed Pyongyang’s intention to strengthen traditional solidarity and cooperation with Beijing. He mentioned his meetings with Xi Jinping last year and this year, which, he said, demonstrated a shared desire to turn bilateral ties into the strongest and most strategic relationship between socialist states.

In the letter, the North Korean leader said he was ready, together with Xi Jinping, to bring relations between North Korea and China, which have deep historical roots, to a new strategic level.

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Meetings of the leaders

According to the publication, the leaders of the two countries met twice over the past year: in September last year in Beijing and in June this year in Pyongyang. Xi Jinping then visited North Korea for the first time in seven years.

During the June summit, the sides agreed to expand high-level contacts and cooperation in the political, economic and cultural spheres. This year also marks 65 years since the signing of the 1961 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between North Korea and China.

A day before China’s National Day, a reception was held in Pyongyang attended by Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Wang Yajun and other staff members of the Chinese Embassy, KCNA reported.