China, North Korea mark 75th anniversary of ties with vows of cooperation

SEOUL: The leaders of China and North Korea vowed on Sunday to enhance bilateral cooperation on the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Pyongyang’s state news agency KCNA reported.

“I attach great importance to the development of the China-DPRK relations,” China’s President Xi Jinping said in his message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, using the initials for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Xi said China was ready to continue to “write a new chapter” of relations through strengthened communications and cooperation.

China is by far North Korea’s largest trading partner. The two share a history going back to Beijing’s support of Pyongyang during the 1950-1953 Korean War that resulted in the formation of North and South Korea.

But China reacted guardedly in June as Kim deepened ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This year, North Korea and Russia signed a strategic treaty that includes mutual defence elements.

In his message to Xi, Kim pledged to “steadily strive to consolidate and develop the friendly and cooperative relations between the DPRK and China as required by the new era”.

North Korea is expected to revise its constitution to abandon its long-held goal of peaceful unification with the South and to redefine the inter-Korean border, a move which experts say could escalate tensions on the peninsula. North Korea will convene a parliamentary session to discuss the amendment on Monday.