April 13 (UPI) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to strengthen his country’s ties with China during bilateral meetings with senior Chinese officials, including its No. 3 leader, in Pyongyang on Saturday.
The meeting took place in the North Korean capital between Kim and Zhao Leji, the third-highest ranking member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and the nation’s highest-ranking lawmaker.
Top officials from both countries attended a ceremony Friday to celebrate the so-called “year of DPRK-China friendship,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.
Kim said during public remarks that the bond between the two nations is “deeply rooted and unbreakable.”
The two countries have long been allies while much of the western world shuns North Korea. The hermit kingdom has repeatedly been accused of human rights violations for making hundreds of defectors vanish after the escapees were forcibly returned by China.
“China is ready to work with the DPRK to implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries, promote traditional friendship, deepen strategic mutual trust and enhance exchanges and cooperation, so as to jointly write a new chapter of the China-DPRK friendship,” Zhao said in a speech, according to China’s Xinhua state news agency.
Zhao arrived for the three-day visit Thursday and became the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit North Korea since China’s President Xi Jinping visited in 2019.
He was photographed with Kim several times on stage during the celebrations, with speculation the North Korean leader may reciprocate by visiting China later this year to mark the anniversary.
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