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| Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese president, holds talks with Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), in Pyongyang, DPRK, June 20, 2019. (File photo by=Xinhua/Ju Peng) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] A state media reported on Wednesday (June 23), North Korea joined a symposium hosted with China to celebrate the anniversaries of reciprocal visits by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The joint meeting Monday was hosted by the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party to celebrate the third anniversary of Kim's visit to China and the second anniversary of Xi's visit to North Korea, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) added. North Korea's Embassy officials in Beijing attended the symposium, with Ambassador Ri Ryong-nam saying that the leaders' visits were historical events in which the leaders of the two parties showed their firm commitment to the struggle for socialism, according to the KCNA. Song Tao, the director of the ILD, also highlighted the close bilateral relations, stating that the mutual visit has brought "new vitality" to relations between the traditional allies.
Additionally, Pyongyang has been seeking to maintain closer ties with its traditional allies amid an impasse in nuclear negotiations with Washington. Meanwhile, during a recent op-ed piece to the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, Li Jinjun, the Chinese ambassador to North Korea, stressed the importance of cooperation between the two allies on regional peace, stability and prosperity.
