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North Korea’s Kim Jong-un honours Chinese war dead as both sides highlight strong ties
- Beijing and Pyongyang are using the Korean war anniversary to strengthen ties, amid worsening US-China relations and the upcoming US presidential election
- This comes as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said an end-of-war declaration cannot come before the North’s denuclearisation
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Thursday visited the cemetery of Chinese soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean war, as the two allies evoke memories of the conflict to strengthen their relationship amid a deterioration in US-China ties.
China, which fought alongside the North against South Korea and US-led coalition troops, is using the 70th anniversary of its entry into the war to draw its neighbour closer as it faces a US policy of encircling it in the Asia-Pacific region, according to an analyst.
Pyongyang also needs to project an image of being supported by Beijing given geopolitical uncertainties surrounding the November US presidential election.
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“North Korea knows well the US would not condone its nuclear weapons and it is bracing itself for tensions following the US presidential poll, no matter who wins, and it needs China to have its back,” said Go Myung-hyun at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.
The visit to the soldiers’ tombs “highlighted the traditional alliance with China”, Go said.
Kim lauded the contribution of the Chinese People’s Volunteers (CPV) in the “great victory in the Fatherland Liberation War” which linked the two countries’ destinies as one, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
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