North Korea welcomes Chinese delegation
Special show features ethnic groups of China, songs of both countries
As North Korea celebrates the 70th anniversary of its founding on Sunday, a delegation from China received a warm welcome from the country’s leaders and people.
The Chinese group in Pyongyang attended a specifically arranged performance on Monday and watched North Korean artists performing classical Chinese songs in Chinese and Korean. The group was invited by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The delegation was led by Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Li attended the celebration as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special representative.
During the performance, video footage was played showing the traditional friendship between the two countries’ leaders including scenes of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il talking with Chinese leaders.
On Sunday, in the Glorious Motherland mass gymnastics and artistic performance held in Pyongyang’s May Day Stadium, the popular Chinese song “Love My China” was played.
Thousands of North Korean performers wearing the traditional clothes of China’s 56 ethnic groups danced in the song and won applause from the crowd.
During the military parade held Sunday morning in Kim Il-sung Square, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held the hand of Li up high and waved together to the North Korean people attending the parade.
When the Chinese delegation arrived at the Pyongyang Sunan International Airport on Saturday morning, they were warmly greeted by North Korean officials and thousands of people.
Chinese and Korean banners read “A warm welcome to the delegation from the People’s Republic of China” and “Long live the unbreakable friendship of the North Korean and Chinese peoples.”
North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Monday took a full page including seven color pictures to report on Kim’s meeting with the Chinese delegation.
The official North Korean media on Sunday published seven pictures of Kim Jong-un chatting with Li during the celebration march.
Da Zhigang, director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Northeast Asian Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday that North Korea is not only responding to China’s efforts on the peninsula issue, but also expressing the will for the country to make all sorts of efforts to maintain and deepen friendship.
After US President Donald Trump received a “very warm” letter from Kim Jong-un, the White House is planning a second meeting between the two, the Guardian reported on Monday.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a press briefing on Tuesday that China was happy to see active interactions between North Korea and the US.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in called for a “bold decision” by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on denuclearization Tuesday as the White House said it was planning another summit with Pyongyang.
“The complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is an issue that should fundamentally be resolved between the US and North Korea through negotiation,” Moon told a cabinet meeting.
“But until talks and communication between the North and the US become more active, we cannot but work to mediate between them,” he said, adding: “President Trump and Chairman Kim have asked that I play this role.”
His comments came after the White House said it was “in the process of coordinating” another summit between Trump and Kim, after Pyongyang proposed a second meeting in a letter delivered to Trump.
Moon, who brokered June’s historic Singapore summit between Trump and Kim, will fly to Pyongyang next week for his third meeting with the North Korean leader this year.
“A big vision and a bold decision between the leaders of North Korea and the US are needed again in order to advance to a higher level in discarding Pyongyang’s existing nuclear weapons,” Moon said.
In Singapore, Trump and Kim signed an agreement on denuclearization, which was touted by the US leader as a breakthrough deal to end the North’s nuclear program.
Little progress has been made since then, prompting Trump to abruptly cancel Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s planned trip to Pyongyang late last month. But the new letter showed signs that the discussions remain alive despite weeks of apparent deadlock.
North Korea also refrained from displaying its intercontinental missiles in a massive parade celebrating the country’s 70th birthday on Sunday, which Trump called “a big and very positive statement.”