Kim meets China official, favours stronger ties
seoul — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally greeted a top Chinese official in Pyongyang and called for stronger ties with Beijing, state media said on Sunday, as the traditional allies seek to heal battered relations.
Kim met with Song Tao, head of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee’s international department, who was leading an art troupe to attend a spring festival in the North’s capital.
The delegation arrived just weeks after Kim made a surprise visit to Beijing and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, signalling an attempt by both leaders to shore up a key alliance ahead of a period of high-stakes diplomacy.
Kim is expected to hold summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in this month and US President Donald Trump in the following weeks.
The North’s official KCNA news agency said Kim welcomed Song and his delegation in a meeting on Saturday, where Song conveyed Xi’s “warm greetings”.
The two exchanged “profound views on the important matters of mutual concern” and the international situation, KCNA said, without providing details.
“The Supreme Leader said that he would positively carry forward and develop the traditional DPRKChina friendship into a fresh phase of development as required by a new era,” it added, using the North’s official acronym.
Beijing is North Korea’s sole major ally, an alliance dating back to the 1950-1953 Korean War, but relations deteriorated after China backed United Nations sanctions to punish Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons programme. —