Xi says China’s commitment to North Korea friendship will not change: KCNA
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Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and North Korea’s Premier Pak Thae Song meeting in Beijing on July 10.
PHOTO: REUTERS
SEOUL – Chinese President Xi Jinping said China’s commitment to its traditional friendship with North Korea would not change regardless of how the international situation evolves, according to letters exchanged with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 11.
Kim, in a letter to Xi, said bilateral friendship and cooperation had risen to a “new strategic level”, KCNA reported.
North Korea’s Premier Pak Thae Song arrived in Beijing on July 10 for a three-day visit to attend an event marking the 65th anniversary of the neighbours’ friendship treaty.
Xi travelled to Pyongyang in June for his first visit to North Korea in seven years, where he and Kim agreed to expand cooperation across politics, economy and culture.
The Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, signed on July 11, 1961, remains China’s only active mutual defence pact.
“Regardless of how the international situation changes, the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government will continue to attach great importance to the traditional friendship between China and North Korea, continue to firmly support North Korea’s socialist cause under the leadership of General Secretary Kim Jong Un, and remain firmly committed to safeguarding the common interests of both countries and a favorable strategic environment,” Xi was quoted as saying. REUTERS
