Top Chinese envoy in N. Korea hosts banquet marking China's participation in Korean War
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, is seen at a cemetery for the Chinese People's Volunteers in Hoechang County, South Phyongan Province, where he paid tribute to Chinese soldiers who died fighting for the North in the Korean War, Friday. Courtesy of the Korean Central News Agency
Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Wang Yaijun has hosted a banquet commemorating China's entry into the 1950-53 Korean War, highlighting his country's friendly ties with Pyongyang, the North's state media reported Sunday.
The two neighbors observe the anniversary on Oct. 25, the day when Chinese troops reported their first military victory in the war that broke out on June 25, 1950.
The banquet was held Saturday at the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang, attended by North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang-chol and Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong-ho, as well as a visiting Chinese delegation, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
The participants "raised their glasses to the continued strengthening and development of the traditional friendship and cooperation between North Korea and China, and to the prosperity of both nations," the KCNA said.
Wang also joined North Korean officials from the North's ruling Workers' Party in a wreath-laying ceremony at the North Korea-China Friendship Tower in Pyongyang to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers.
The KCNA reported Saturday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid tribute to the fallen Chinese soldiers at a cemetery in South Phyongan Province the previous day, quoting him as vowing to "never forget the blood shed by the Chinese soldiers."
Kim's visit, his first in five years, came as Beijing and Pyongyang have been rekindling their close ties amid North Korea's growing military cooperation with Russia, including its troop deployment to support Moscow's war against Ukraine.