China vows cooperation with North Korea under 'new situation'

2024-05-20 16:28:14      点击：178

Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wave from an open top limousine as they travel along a street in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this June 20, 2019, file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency. AP-Yonhap

China's President Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of cooperation between Beijing and Pyongyang in an unspecified "new situation," North Korea's state media reported Saturday.

North Korea, officially known as the DPRK, carried out an unprecedented seven missile tests in January ― including its most powerful missile since 2017 ― with denuclearization negotiations with the United States at a standstill.

It paused testing during the Beijing Winter Olympics, with analysts saying the decision could have been made out of deference to China.

Beijing is Pyongyang's most important ally and economic benefactor, their relationship forged during the 1950s Korean War.

In his message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Xi said Beijing was ready to "develop the China-DPRK relations of friendship and cooperation" under a "new situation," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The KCNA did not further elaborate on what the "new situation" entailed.

North Korea is reeling economically from a self-imposed coronavirus blockade, and restarted cross-border trade with Beijing last month.

China accounts for more than 90 percent of the isolated country's bilateral trade.

Pyongyang is under multiple sets of international sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

But regardless, it has warned it could abandon its self-imposed moratorium and resume testing intercontinental ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons.

Some experts have warned that with the eyes of the world focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, North Korea might take the opportunity to test-fire long-range missiles. (AFP)