State media reported on Friday, September 5th, that Kim Jong Un told Xi Jinping it was his “steadfast will” to “steadily develop” relations between the two countries after their talks in Beijing.
The two leaders met Thursday evening at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, where Kim affirmed the “friendly feelings” between the two countries, Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) reported.
Kim has been on a rare foreign visit to China, his most important ally, joining Russia’s Vladimir Putin alongside Xi at a massive military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
Using the acronym for North Korea, KCNA quoted Kim as declaring:
It is the steadfast will of the WPK (Workers’ Party of Korea) and the government… to steadily develop the DPRK-China relations.
Kim told Xi the relationship between China and North Korea “cannot change no matter how the international situation may change”, according to KCNA, echoing almost exactly Xi’s comments to Kim as reported by Chinese state media.
Chinese state media reported that Xi told Kim the two countries should strengthen coordination on international affairs and “safeguard their common interests.”
Kim arrived in Beijing on Tuesday with his daughter Kim Ju Ae, marking his second reported trip abroad in six years and his first visit to China since 2019.
“Visiting China after six years, I was deeply struck by how China has transformed and developed beyond recognition,” Kim said on Thursday in a video.
Kim left Beijing by his private train on Thursday evening to go back to North Korea, KCNA said.
