Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
China's Xi vows to expand cooperation with Pyongyang as NK's Kim supports 'One China' principle
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Kumsusan Guesthouse in Pyongyang, Monday, ahead of their summit. Xinhua-Yonhap
By Park Ji-won
Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to enhance bilateral cooperation in multiple areas including diplomacy, military and trade during a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, while Kim supported China’s "One China" principle.
“The two sides should strengthen exchanges in diplomacy, law enforcement and the military, implement the important consensus reached between myself (Xi) and General Secretary (Kim), so as to pool wisdom and strength for the development of China-Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) relations,” Xi was quoted as saying in Xinhua's Chinese-language coverage Monday, while highlighting that the country will continue to build the special relationship and long-standing friendship with North Korea regardless of changing geopolitical dynamics.
The remarks were made during the Xi-Kim summit in Pyongyang from Monday to Tuesday, which took place at the request of North Korea. Xi's presidential trip to Pyongyang is his first in seven years and comes roughly nine months after the two leaders last met in Beijing. It also arrives in the wake of North Korea and Russia signing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement in June 2024, a development that analysts say prompted Beijing to manage its ties with Pyongyang more actively.
The article said Xi suggested ways to boost cooperation between the two countries around four pillars.
“China and North Korea should strengthen strategic coordination and cooperation, firmly safeguard their respective sovereignty, security and development interests, and jointly maintain regional peace and development,” he was quoted as saying.
A woman walks past a television screen at a train station in Seoul, Monday, showing a news broadcast with file footage of the 2019 meeting between China's President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The Chinese leader hailed an "invincible friendship" with Pyongyang as he arrived in North Korea on Monday, his first trip abroad this year after hosting back-to-back summits in Beijing. AFP-Yonhap
The North Korean leader, meanwhile, was quoted as saying, “The DPRK will unswervingly adhere to the One China principle and firmly support China's policies and positions on safeguarding its core interests.”
Kim added, “Consolidating and developing the DPRK-China friendship in the new era is the choice of the people, the necessity of the times, and the DPRK's unwavering strategic choice and steadfast strategic will. We will, as always, regard developing DPRK-China relations as the most important and primary strategic undertaking of our country, and do our utmost to build DPRK-China relations into a model of state-to-state relations, jointly contributing to regional and global peace and prosperity.”
He also echoed Beijing's definition of their bilateral ties, describing them as a special relationship and traditional friendship between China and North Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju received Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan at Pyongyang's Sunan Airport at noon, according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency. The official welcome ceremony was held at Kim Il Sung Square, where a 21-gun salute rang out. Large portraits of both leaders hung at the square's center, flanked by banners reading "Sino-Korean friendship is eternal" and "Long live the friendship and solidarity between the peoples of the two countries" in Korean and Chinese. As the two leaders reviewed the honor guard from the podium, the guards called out in Korean, "Comrade Xi Jinping, be in good health."
Before Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in North Korea Monday for a two-day state visit, Beijing and Pyongyang moved quickly to project an image of unshakable friendship — with state media on both sides amplifying rhetoric of blood-forged ties at a moment when North Korea's alignment with Russia has complicated China's position on the peninsula.
Xi made a contribution to North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun ahead of his visit, writing, “The peoples of the two nations had forged a relationship in blood, sharing both joy and sorrow while braving life-and-death situations together.”
The Chinese leader added, "No matter how the international situation changes, the traditional China-North Korea relationship remains unshakable."
A building is decorated with the flags of China and North Korea in Pyongyang, Monday. AP-Yonhap
China's People's Daily echoed this sentiment Monday in a bilingual commentary, while highlighting Beijing's expanding ties with Pyongyang. The English version stated, "China and the DPRK will surely carry forward their traditional friendship and deepen cooperation for the benefit of their peoples and the cause of peace, stability and prosperity in the region and beyond."
In its Chinese-language edition, the paper went further, saying “Currently, China-DPRK relations stand at a new historical starting point, facing new development opportunities and shouldering new missions of our times. China is willing to work with DPRK to grasp the strategic importance of China-DPRK relations and promote their continuous development in line with the times.”
Seoul's unification ministry read the coordinated media coverage as a scene-setting ahead of the summit. "It is to create a mood before the Kim-Xi summit by highlighting the traditional friendly relations between the two," ministry spokesperson Yoon Min-ho said.
China-North Korea relations have historically experienced ups and downs. While the two nations shared an alliance forged in blood until the 1990s, ties began to strain after Beijing established diplomatic relations with Seoul in 1992 and Pyongyang launched its nuclear weapons program.
The relationship remained stalled until recently, when Russia's deepening partnership with North Korea prompted China to step up its engagement.