Kim tells Xi North Korea will build China ties after Pyongyang summit
KCNA said Kim Jong Un sent Xi Jinping a message praising last month’s summit and calling China ties a shared asset.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has told Chinese President Xi Jinping that Pyongyang intends to keep expanding ties with Beijing, according to North Korean state media. The message matters because China remains North Korea’s main economic lifeline even as Kim has built closer military ties with Russia.
Kim sent the message to mark the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, the Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday. KCNA said Kim described North Korea’s policy as one of steady development of relations with China.
In the message, Kim said it was the “steadfast stand” of North Korea’s ruling party and government to develop friendly relations with China, using the initials DPRK for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, according to KCNA. He also called the countries’ relationship “the common wealth of the peoples of the two countries,” KCNA reported.
Summit followed Xi’s return to Pyongyang
Kim’s message referred to Xi’s June 8-9 visit to Pyongyang, which South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said was the Chinese leader’s first trip to North Korea in nearly seven years. KCNA said Kim called the summit a historic moment that strengthened personal trust and friendship between the two leaders.
According to KCNA, Kim said he and Xi had confirmed their “unshakable will” to advance bilateral relations. North Korean state media also said the leaders adopted a broad plan to strengthen what it called their strategic relationship.
Chinese state media said Xi used the visit to call for closer cooperation with North Korea in diplomacy, law enforcement and military affairs. The reports did not give further details on specific agreements in those areas.
Al Jazeera reported that North Korea has drawn closer to Russia in recent years, including through a strategic defence pact linked to the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops for Russia’s war in Ukraine. China, however, remains North Korea’s largest economic partner.
South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance said China accounted for nearly 98 percent of North Korea’s foreign trade in 2024. That trade dependence gives Beijing a central role in Pyongyang’s external economic relations.
Ukraine POW issue raised in Seoul
Yonhap separately reported that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun in Seoul on Tuesday. The talks covered bilateral relations and the status of North Korean prisoners of war captured in Ukraine, according to the news agency.
Yonhap said two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces in 2025 had expressed interest in defecting to South Korea if Ukraine releases them. South Korea treats North Koreans as South Korean nationals under its constitution, Yonhap reported.
The South Korean government has said it would accept any prisoners of war who want to go to South Korea, according to Yonhap. A senior South Korean Foreign Ministry official said earlier this month that Seoul and Kyiv had reached a basic understanding on the matter and hoped to make progress during Sybiha’s visit, the agency reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.