North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally greeted a top Chinese official in Pyongyang and called for stronger ties with Beijing, state media said on Sunday, as the traditional allies seek to heal battered relations.<\/p>\n
Kim met with Song Tao, head of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee\u2019s international department, who was leading an art troupe to attend a spring festival in the North\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
The delegation arrived just weeks after Kim made a surprise visit to Beijing and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, signalling an attempt by both leaders to shore up a key alliance ahead of a period of high-stakes diplomacy.<\/p>\n
Kim is expected to hold summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in this month and US President Donald Trump in the following weeks.<\/p>\n
The North\u2019s official KCNA news agency said Kim welcomed Song and his delegation in a meeting on Saturday, where Song conveyed Xi\u2019s \u201cwarm greetings\u201d.<\/p>\n
The two exchanged \u201cprofound views on the important matters of mutual concern\u201d between their parties and the international situation, KCNA said, without providing details.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Supreme Leader said that he would positively carry forward and develop the traditional DPRK-China friendship into a fresh phase of development as required by a new era,\u201d it added, using the North\u2019s official acronym.<\/p>\n
Beijing is North Korea\u2019s sole major ally, an alliance dating back to the 1950-1953 Korean War, but relations deteriorated after China backed United Nations sanctions to punish Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons programme.<\/p>\n
More high-level exchanges and cooperation will follow between Beijing and Pyongyang, the report cited Kim as saying.<\/p>\n
In response, Song vowed to make \u201ca fresh contribution to promoting the prolonged and stable development of the China-DPRK relations\u201d.<\/p>\n
Song is leading a Chinese art troupe attending a spring art festival in Pyongyang held as part of the commemorations for the anniversary of the birth of the North\u2019s founder Kim Il Sung on April 15, 1912.<\/p>\n
Both North Korean and foreign artists take part, and this year\u2019s week-long event includes concerts, dance performances and acrobatics.<\/p>\n
KCNA also issued a rare separate report on Kim\u2019s wife who attended a performance by the Chinese art troupe yesterday in the absence of her husband.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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