North Korean leader vows to steadily develop ties with China

ISTANBUL

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to steadily develop ties with China during a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Friday.

Kim said it is the "steadfast will of the WPK (Workers' Party of Korea) and the government of the DPRK (North Korea) to steadily develop DPRK-China relations."

North Korea will "as ever invariably" support and encourage the stand and efforts of China to "defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and development interests of the state," Kim said.

Thursday's Beijing summit marked their sixth such bilateral meeting since 2018.

Kim noted China's "firm determination to defend world peace" and a "clear demonstration" of its "important international position and influence on this occasion."

Xi, in turn, expressed willingness to "successfully defend, consolidate, and develop the China-DPRK relations."

Beijing "attaches great importance" to the "friendship" between China and North Korea, Xi said, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

“No matter how the international landscape may evolve, this position will stay unchanged,” said the Chinese leader, pledging support to Pyongyang “in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions.”

The two leaders discussed cooperation and "intensifying the high-level visits and strategic communication" between Beijing and Pyongyang.

China held its largest military parade on Wednesday, with 26 foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim in attendance, to mark the surrender of Japan, which ended World War II in 1945.

North Korea’s ties with Russia have grown closer over the past few years.

Kim held his fourth bilateral summit with Putin in Beijing on Wednesday, pledging “full support” to Russia in its war with Ukraine.

The North Korean leader returned home on Friday after completing his China visit. He had left Pyongyang on Monday for the visit and arrived in Beijing on Tuesday.

* Islamuddin Sajid contributed to this story from Islamabad.