SEOUL/PYONGYANG (dpa): North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that he would step up exchanges between the two countries amid a historic visit on Friday.
Furthermore, Pyongyang and Beijing are prepared to play an appropriate role in promoting peace and stability in the world, Kim said, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Wang said that given the current international situation, China and North Korea should resolutely defend their sovereignty, security and development interests.
He added that they also wished to further strengthen communication and coordination on important international and regional matters.
Wang’s first visit to North Korea in six years comes just over a month before US President Donald Trump’s planned trip to China.
China and North Korea are allies, with Beijing a key supporter of the otherwise isolated regime in Pyongyang. Their long-standing ties date back to the Korean War (1950-1953), when troops of China's People's Liberation Army fought alongside communist North Korea.
To this day, North Korea remains the only country to which China has pledged military support under a mutual defence agreement.
Both sides recently resumed rail and air links that had been suspended at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
China praises Pyongyang's resilience
Earlier, China praised North Korea's resilience in the face of US pressure and pledged deeper cooperation during a visit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, North Korean state media reported on Friday.
Wang said the North Korean people had achieved progress in socialist development under leader Kim Jong Un despite what he described as increasing isolation and pressure from the United States and its allies, according to KCNA.
China's state news agency Xinhua did not mention those remarks in its report on a banquet hosted by North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui.
Friday's talks build on a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim in Beijing last September. -- dpa
