North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping in Pyongyang on Monday for his first visit in almost seven years. Xi called for deepening “strategic coordination and cooperation” with the secluded nation shortly after the welcome.
Xi said during a meeting with Kim on Monday that the two sides should inject “powerful momentum” into their ties, according to Chinese state media Xinhua. He also added that Beijing was ready to expand cooperation in areas like economics and trade, agriculture, health, construction, science, and technology.
Kim and first lady Ri Sol Ju greeted Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan at the airport in Pyongyang. Official footage shows the couple clapping as their plane landed.
State media footage showed a welcome ceremony for Xi in Kim Il Sung Square, where a mounted cavalry escort lined up to receive the guests, while crowds waved flowers and flags beneath portraits of the two leaders installed over the square.
According to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, Xi and Kim later held talks and attended a banquet at Mokran House state venue.
As per the Xinhua readout of the meeting, Xi told Kim that “no matter how the international situation changes, the firm position of the Chinese Party and government highly valuing the traditional friendship between China and North Korea will not change.”
The Chinese President called for strengthened international cooperation, urging both countries to “firmly defend their respective sovereignty, security, and development interests, and jointly safeguard regional peace and development.”
Xi’s visit also marks the 65th anniversary of Beijing and Pyongyang’s 1961 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. It is China’s only mutual defense treaty, signed less than 10 years after its forces fought with North Korea in the Korean war.
Meanwhile, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung held a press conference on Monday, addressing Seoul’s ties with Pyongyang.
“Russia and North Korea have developed increasingly close ties and the divide between North and South Korea continues to widen,” he said “But we must continue to pursue dialogue.”
