A North Korean ruling party delegation traveling to China, Vietnam and Laos has arrived in Beijing, Pyongyang’s state media said yesterday.
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, without specifying the exact nature of the trip.
An earlier KCNA report said the delegation would be travelling to Vietnam and Laos, also without disclosing the purpose of the trip.
Photo: Reuters
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said that 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.
Xinhua reported that the delegation met on Thursday with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧).
China is North Korea’s biggest economic benefactor and a traditional ally, and current leader Kim Jong-un has sought to shore up relations with Beijing while intensifying his aggressive rhetoric toward Seoul. In January, Kim said Pyongyang and Beijing had designated this year as the “year of DPRK-China friendship,” using the acronym for the North’s official name.
Commenting on the significance of the year, Xinhua said Wang had on Thursday expressed China’s willingness to work toward “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, and 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.
In 2013, Laos was widely criticised for repatriating nine North Korean refugees, then aged 15 to 19, despite pleas by Seoul and the UN citing concerns for their safety upon return to their repressive homeland.
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