At the beginning of June, leaders Xi and Kim Jong Un announced “a new era” in mutual relations.Image: keystone
Senior government officials from North Korea and China announced at joint talks that they wanted to expand their cooperation.
July 16, 2026, 05:09July 16, 2026, 05:09
The changing international political situation “has prompted the two countries to strengthen their fighting unity,” said Jo Yong Won, presidium member of the North Korean Politburo, according to state news agency KCNA. Jo received Chinese party official Wang Huning, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, in the North Korean capital Pyongyang.
Wang is in North Korea until Friday. The occasion of his three-day state visit is the 65th anniversary of the mutual assistance treaty between the two countries that once fought side by side during the Korean War (1950-1953). According to Wang, this “created the legal basis for consolidating the blood-forged fighting friendship between the two countries.” North Korea is China’s only formal ally.
Another important visit from China
China’s state media initially did not report on Wang’s meeting other than the travel announcement. Wang belongs to the innermost power circle of the Communist Party and is considered a close confidant of state and party leader Xi Jinping.
After Xi’s visit to North Korea at the beginning of June, a high-ranking representative from Beijing traveled with him to China’s isolated neighboring country. At that time, leaders Xi and Kim Jong Un announced “a new era” in mutual relations.
Military conduct in the region
The People’s Republic is North Korea’s most important trading partner and ally. There are repeated demonstrations of military force in the region. Last week, in a rare test, China’s military fired an intercontinental ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine that landed in the South Pacific, according to the US.
North Korea’s ruler Kim has massively expanded his nuclear weapons program in recent years. In addition, North Korea entered into an unprecedented military cooperation with Russia. Since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Pyongyang has not only delivered large quantities of ammunition and artillery shells to Moscow, but has also sent up to 15,000 soldiers to support the Russian armed forces. (sda/dpa)