North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said the country’s unwavering position was to further strengthen ties with China, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.
During her visit to China — the second official trip to the second-most populous country within a month — she met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday, KCNA said.
Li told Choe that China had highly valued the relations with North Korea, reaffirming its position to promote the bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective, KCNA reported.
Meeting With Wang Yi
Choe also held talks with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in Beijing on Sunday.
Wang told Choe that “China is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in international and regional affairs,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement, using the diplomatically isolated state’s full name.
Complex Relationship
Choe’s visit follows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier this month, the first meeting in six years.
Choe delivered a message from Kim Jong Un that the bilateral relationship between two countries is unchanging and should develop to meet the demands of the times, North Korea’s official news agency KCNA reported.
Choe said China’s Xi and North Korea’s Kim, at their latest summit on the sidelines of the parade, set up a basic direction and principle for the bilateral relationship that meets the needs of changing international affairs, according to KCNA.
North Korea and China are traditional allies but their relationship has been complex and strained at times.
Li said the China-North Korea ties had been further cemented under the “direct attention and strategic guidance” of the two leaders.
At the United Nations, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong said the country would never give up its nuclear programme.
China, one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, has supported international efforts to rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons development, but also wants North Korea to play a role as a buffer against US influence in the region, experts say.
(With inputs from Reuters)
