In letter to N. Korea's Kim, China's Xi voices willingness for strong bilateral ties
2024-09-23 14:27:03
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| This June 20, 2019 photo shows Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waving from an open top limousine as they travel along a street in Pyongyang, North Korea. Xinhua-Yonhap |
Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, expressing his willingness to strengthen strategic communication with North Korea, Pyongyang's state media reported Tuesday.
Xi expressed his "heartfelt" thanks to the North's leader in a reply sent on April 12 to Kim's earlier message congratulating Xi's election as the Chinese president for a third term, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Xi said China and the North have maintained and developed their traditional friendly relations, even though international and regional security situations are changing "seriously and in a complicated way."
The Chinese leader expressed his willingness to elevate the bilateral ties to a higher level by "strengthening the strategic communication and jointly guiding" the development of the Beijing-Pyongyang relations with the North's leader, the KCNA said in an English-language dispatch.
Kim sent a letter expressing his "warmest congratulations" to Xi on March 10, the day when he was formally appointed as the Chinese leader for a third five-year term.
Prior to last week's letter, Xi delivered a similar message thanking the North's leader earlier this month via China's new ambassador to North Korea, Wang Yajun.
North Korea has been strengthening its ties with China, the North's traditional ally and economic benefactor, amid global sanctions on its nuclear and missile programs, and stalled denuclearization talks with the United States. (Yonhap)
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