▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on June 9, 2026, shows the North's leader Kim Jong-un (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping posing for a photo as they held summit talks in Pyongyang the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
▲ This file photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on June 9, 2026, shows the North's leader Kim Jong-un (R) shaking hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport the following day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
▲ Chinese President Xi Jinping's motorcade is escorted by motorcycles as it travels through Pyongyang on June 8, 2026, in this photo carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency the following day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) makes a toast with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a banquet for the Chinese leader at the Mokran House in Pyongyang on June 8, 2026, in this photo taken from the North's official Korean Central Television the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(3rd LD) N Korea-China

(3rd LD) N. Korea, China vow new era of ties in Kim-Xi summit: KCNA

(ATTN: RECASTS lead, paras 2-6; ADDS photo, more details in last 6 paras)

SEOUL, June 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to expand cooperation in various fields, pledging to usher in a new era in bilateral relations, Pyongyang's state media reported Tuesday.

Kim and Xi reached the agreement during their summit in Pyongyang the previous day, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), as the Chinese leader was making his first state visit to the North in seven years.

The two leaders agreed to put the two nations' friendly relations "on a more solid basis" and expand cooperation in politics, the economy, culture and other fields, according to the report.

Kim and Xi agreed to "further strengthen the strategic communication through high-level visits between the two parties and two countries ... in order to open a new chapter of the development of the DPRK-China relations," the KCNA said.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

North Korea and China also reaffirmed their commitment to supporting each other's sovereignty, security and development interests.

Kim said strengthening ties with China was his country's "most important top-priority strategic work" and one he was committed to seeing through.

Pyongyang will do its "utmost to strengthen the bilateral relations into a model of the relationship between socialist states and into an invariably special, genuine and solid strategic relationship," he said, calling it "our immutable choice and will."

Xi's trip came as both nations sought to restore their ties that remained cooled amid North Korea's close alignment with Russia. Kim and Xi last held talks in Beijing in September.

Experts said with Xi's trip, China, North Korea's traditional ally and economic benefactor, appears to seek to reassert its influence on the North.

Kim noted Xi's choice of Pyongyang as his first overseas destination of the year underscored how much Beijing valued the relationship.

"Your visit to Pyongyang as the first foreign trip for this year is an expression of your top priority to the DPRK-China friendship, as well as the most encouraging support to the Korean people," the KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

Xi reaffirmed China's support for North Korea and its resolve to "defend the common interests of both sides and a good strategic environment no matter how the international situation may change."

The two sides agreed to further strengthen communication through high-level visits, expand exchanges and cooperation across political, economic, cultural fields and jointly defend each other's sovereignty and security," according to the report.

The Pyongyang meeting was unfolding "at a new strategic level," the KCNA said, noting the visit also fell in "the significant year marking the 65th anniversary of the conclusion of the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance."

Notably absent was any mention of nuclear issues or the broader situation on the Korean Peninsula. Neither the KCNA nor China's Xinhua News Agency has made any reference to either matter. When Xi last visited Pyongyang in 2019, he mentioned China would work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Chinese state media reported Monday that Xi called for stronger cooperation with the North across diplomacy, law enforcement and military.

On Tuesday, Kim and Xi paid tribute at the Friendship Tower, a monument honoring Chinese soldiers who fought alongside North Korean forces during the 1950-1953 Korean War and a symbol of the alliance between the two, Xinhua reported.

The two were accompanied by their wives, Ri Sol-ju and Peng Liyuan.

At the tower, Xi said the two nations "should carry forward their great traditional friendship from generation to generation," according to the report.

The two leaders also visited the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's Central Leadership Academy, an institution that trains the party's senior officials and cadres, in what is believed to be the first visit by a Chinese leader.

There, they observed a class on North Korea-China relations and planted a tree on campus as a gesture of friendship, according to the report.

Xi is set to depart for China later in the day.

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