A ruling party delegation travelling to China, Vietnam and Laos has arrived in Beijing, Pyongyang’s state media said.
The delegation, led by alternate politburo member Kim Song-nam, was welcomed by a representative of the Chinese Communist Party at the airport on Thursday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported yesterday, without specifying the exact nature of the trip.
An earlier KCNA report said the delegation would be travelling on to Vietnam and Laos, also without disclosing the purpose of the trip.
According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, Kim is regarded as a “China expert” in Pyongyang and served as an interpreter for late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.
Beijing’s state news agency Xinhua reported that the delegation met on Thursday with Wang Huning, chairman of China’s top political consultative body.
China is North Korea’s biggest economic benefactor and a traditional ally.
Current leader Kim Jong-un is seeking to shore up relations with Beijing while intensifying his aggressive rhetoric toward Seoul.
In January, Kim said Pyongyang and Beijing had designated 2024 as the “year of DPRK-China friendship”, using the acronym for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Noting the significance of the year, Xinhua said Wang had expressed on Thursday China’s willingness to work towards “concrete actions advancing the friendship between the two sides, deepen collaboration, strengthen strategic communication, and jointly work for a peaceful and stable external environment”.
Experts have said that North Korea appears to be resuming diplomatic activities following years of self-imposed Covid-19 border shutdowns.
Earlier this month, it dispatched a rare delegation led by Vice-Foreign Minister Pak Myong-ho to Mongolia.
North Korea also maintains relatively close ties with Laos and Vietnam.
Leader Kim held a historic but unsuccessful summit with former US president Donald Trump in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi in 2019.
Yesterday, KCNA said Kim had sent a flower basket to Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith to mark the 69th founding anniversary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party.
In 2013, Laos was widely criticised for repatriating nine North Korean refugees, then aged 15 to 19, despite pleas by Seoul and the United Nations citing concerns for their safety upon return to their repressive homeland. — AFP
