July 28, 2024
2 mins read

Pyongyang says ties with China to be ‘firmly’ carried forward

Kim’s visit came as the North has appeared to be aligning closer to Russia and away from China…reports Asian Lite News

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said “kindred” relations with China will be “firmly” carried forward as he visited a monument symbolising bilateral ties, state media reported on Saturday, amid suspected signs of strain between the traditionally friendly countries.

On Friday, Kim visited the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang, which was erected to commemorate China’s participation in the 1950-53 Korean War, and paid tribute to fallen Chinese soldiers during the war, a day ahead of the 71st anniversary of the armistice that ended the conflict, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“He expressed the belief that the North Korea-China friendship established as the ties of kindred would be firmly carried forward and developed along with the immortal spirit of the martyrs,” the KCNA said in an English-language dispatch.

The Korean War, which started with an invasion by North Korea, ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, on July 27, 1953. North Korea celebrates the armistice signing date as Victory Day, claiming it won what it calls a liberation war against US-led aggression, Yonhap news agency reported.

Kim’s visit came as the North has appeared to be aligning closer to Russia and away from China, with the North’s leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin signing a “comprehensive strategic partnership” agreement during their summit in Pyongyang last month.

Earlier this month, the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North’s ruling party, did not carry any articles on the anniversary of the signing of the friendship treaty between North Korea and China as it had done so on the anniversary date in the past.

Separately, Kim also visited a cemetery of North Korean soldiers who died during the Korean War in Pyongyang on Friday, along with elderly war veterans, according to the KCNA.

“It is the sacred mission and duty of our generation to reliably defend our ideology and social system, safeguarded by the victorious wartime generation at the cost of blood, and build a people’s paradise,” Kim was saying in another English-language KCNA report.

Kim has visited the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery every year around the time of the anniversary of the armistice signing.

The North’s leader also visited the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on Mt. Taesong later that day, where forces who fought against Japan’s 1910-45 rule of the Korean Peninsula under his late grandfather Kim Il-sung remain buried.

It marked the first time Kim visited the cemetery on the occasion of the armistice signing anniversary in an apparent effort to emphasise their importance.

ALSO READ: Modi To Visit Ukraine, First Since Russia’s Invasion

Previous Story

A PM committed to South Asian Communities 

Next Story

Pakistan faces challenges in energy loan talks with China

Latest from -Top News

Zero Tariffs? Trump Claims Big Win Over India

Trump Claims India to Eliminate Tariffs on U.S. Imports..reports Asian Lite News U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that India has either already removed or is in the process of removing

UNSC Grills Pakistan Over Pahalgam Attack

Though Pakistan claimed that the meeting largely served and achieved the objectives of the UNSC’s meeting, reports showed that it flopped miserably…reports Asian Lite News The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reportedly

Pakistan’s Terror Link “No Secret”: Bilawal Bhutto

Zardari stated that Pakistan’s intelligence services have since changed course and no longer collaborate with extremist elements..reports Asian Lite News Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, former Foreign Minister of Pakistan, has openly acknowledged Pakistan’s

Islamists Rise Under Yunus Rule

After the departure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, Islamic parties in Bangladesh, crushed for years by the Awami League government, have made inroads into the political arena…writes Baidya
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Russia hits nuclear research facility in Kharkiv

Russia has been targeting nuclear sites in Ukraine since it

PLA Navy – China’s world class navy or CCP tool?

The inabilities brought out above pose the biggest question –