▲ Leader Kim Jong-un (L) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their talks in Beijing on Sept. 4, 2025, in this file photo published by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency the following day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

N Korea-China-leaders

Xi tells N. Korea's Kim that China is ready to strengthen strategic cooperation on int'l issues

SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Yonhap) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has told North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that China is ready to solidify strategic cooperation on international and regional issues, the North's state media reported Sunday.

Xi reaffirmed the Chinese commitment in a message sent to Kim on Thursday in response to the North Korean leader's congratulatory telegram for the 76th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

North Korea and China are "great neighbors, friends and comrades that help each other, and the traditional friendship between the two countries is solidifying as time passes," the KCNA quoted Xi as saying.

Xi said China is ready to inherit and further develop the traditional friendship with North Korea to deepen friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation.

China is willing to "strengthen strategic cooperation on international and region issues" to provide greater welfare to the peoples of the two countries and to jointly safeguard peace, stability, and international equity and justice in the region, Xi also said.

Kim and Xi held their first talks in over six years in Beijing last month during the North Korean leader's visit to attend a military parade, putting their ties, frayed by Pyongyang's military alignment with Russia, back on track.

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