China and North Korea show united front as US offers talks

Name: Japan’s plan to release radioactive water from Fukushima nuclear plant into sea sparks outrage
Uploaded: 2021-06-21T11:58:24.000Z
Duration: 2 min 58 s
Description: Japan’s plan to release radioactive water from Fukushima nuclear plant into sea sparks outrage

Envoys from Pyongyang and Beijing underline their friendship on second anniversary of Xi Jinping’s trip to North Korean capital

US representative says Washington is willing to have a meeting with Pyongyang at any time

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China and North Korea are expected to renew their friendship treaty this year. Photo: AFP

Sarah Zheng

Published: 7:58pm, 21 Jun 2021Updated: 10:47pm, 21 Jun 2021

China and North Korea have made a public show of solidarity, calling for regional stability amid signs from Washington that it is willing to hold talks with Pyongyang.

In a rare opinion piece in Rodong Sinmun, the official mouthpiece of the Workers’ Party of Korea, China’s ambassador to North Korea Li Jinjun said the two sides should deepen cooperation in areas such as education, culture, health and agriculture, and expand communication for the “new starting point” in their “enduring and unbreakable” friendship.

“China and North Korea are both countries that have emerged from suffering, and know the value of peace,” Li wrote in the piece on Monday, the second anniversary of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea.

“We are willing to work with the North Korean side to strengthen communication and coordination, and will work together to achieve long-term peace and stability in the region, making a positive contribution to regional peace and stability, development and prosperity.”

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North Korea’s top envoy to Beijing Ri Ryong-nam wrote a similar piece in the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily on Monday, stressing that the friendship and solidarity between the people of North Korea and China would “never fade and will never change”.