(2nd LD) N. Korea's top diplomat tells China that Pyongyang vows to deepen bilateral ties

▲ North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui (R) shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their talks in Pyongyang on April 9, 2026, as the Chinese official visits North Korea for a two-day trip, in this photo from the Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

▲ North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui (R) welcomes Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Pyongyang on April 9, 2026, as the Chinese official visits North Korea for a two-day trip, in this photo from the Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) N Korea-China-diplomacy

(2nd LD) N. Korea's top diplomat tells China that Pyongyang vows to deepen bilateral ties

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in last 2 paras)

SEOUL, April 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui has told her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that Pyongyang is willing to strengthen ties with Beijing as the two nations mark the 65th anniversary of signing a comprehensive treaty on cooperation this year, according to the North's state media Friday.

Choe made the remarks during talks with Wang in Pyongyang on Thursday as China's top diplomat arrived in the North for a two-day visit, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. Wang visited North Korea for the first time in more than six years.

The talks came months after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to deepen bilateral ties during their summit talks in Beijing last year.

Choe told Wang that bilateral ties have been advanced to a "higher new level" under an agreement reached during the summit talks between Kim and Xi last year.

North Korea would further deepen the bilateral friendship under the "common ideology of socialism in accordance with the aspirations and interests of the people of the two nations," Choe told Wang, according to the KCNA.

Wang also recalled that Xi and Kim held a "historic" meeting in Beijing in September last year, during which, he said, they presented "landmark" guidelines for taking the bilateral friendship to a new level.

"It is the unwavering intention of the Chinese party and the government to greatly safeguard, solidify and develop China-North Korea friendship, regardless of how the international situation changes," the KCNA quoted Wang as saying.

The ministers also agreed to increase various exchanges and cooperation to mark this year's 65th anniversary of their Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance and to strengthen "strategic communication" and cooperation between their countries' foreign policy bodies.

In a banquet hosted for Wang later on Thursday, he referred to "a plot of escalating isolation and pressure by the United States and other Western forces," saying North Korea had made new achievements in this context.

The remarks could suggest that North Korea and China may align more closely in foreign policy, including toward Washington, as U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to visit China next month for talks with Xi.

There has been speculation that Trump could seek a meeting with Kim on the occasion of his trip to China, reviving the one-on-one diplomacy he pursued during his first presidential term.

The KCNA, however, did not provide details on whether the foreign ministers' meeting addressed issues related to Washington or Trump's trip to China.

China's Xinhua News Agency reported Wang on Friday paid tribute to the graves in Pyongyang of Chinese soldiers killed while fighting for the North in the 1950-53 Korean War.

Wang expressed gratitude to the North Korean side for repair work on the graves, calling the site a foundation for the blood-forged relations between the two countries.

(END)

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved