'No matter how': North Korea's Kim tells China's Xi 'the feeling of friendship can't change'

The camarederei between Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was palpable during China’s Victory Day parade earlier this week. Now, Kim has told Xi that Pyongyang will stand by Beijing’s side in protecting Chinese sovereignty, territory and development interests.

“No matter how the international situation changes, the feeling of friendship cannot change” between North Korea and China, Kim told Xi during bilateral in Beijing on Thursday, KCNA reported.

Meanwhile, Xi told Kim that China and North Korea share one destiny and are “good neighbors, good friends and good comrades”.

What did the two leaders discuss?

As per KCNA, the leaders discussed strengthening strategic cooperation and protecting common interests in international and regional issues, and conducting more visits among high-ranking officials between the two countries as well as strategic communication.

Kim’s visit to China “marked a historic occasion which further strengthened the political trust and strategic cooperation between… the two countries,” KCNA reported. It was evidence of “the invariability and invincibility of the DPRK-China friendly relations that… overcame all sorts of trials and challenges,” the state-run media said.

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It also confirmed that the leader has left for North Korea and was sent off by senior Chinese officials including top-ranked Communist Party official Cai Qi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Russia congratulates N. Korea

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was also part of the Victory Day celebrations and was in close quarters with Kim and Xi, sent congratulatory message to North Korea on its foundation day on Thursday.

“Your combat force’s heroic involvement in liberating the Kursk territories from the invaders is a distinct symbol of friendship and mutual aid between Russia and North Korea”, Putin’s message read.

“I am confident that we will continue to work together to consolidate the comprehensive strategic partnership between our two countries,” Putin said.

With inputs from agencies