Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded his first visit to North Korea in seven years on Tuesday, stating that a deeper and more comprehensive mutual understanding had been established, providing a clearer path for the development of ties, UNN reports, citing Reuters.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Xi agreed to expand cooperation in the fields of politics, economy, and culture at a summit in Pyongyang, which opened a new chapter in ties between the countries, North Korea's official news agency KCNA reported.
"The mutual understanding between China and North Korea has become deeper and more comprehensive, and the direction of future development has become clearer and more defined," Xi told his hosts at a lunch before his departure, China's Xinhua added.
Kim waved with both hands as Xi's plane moved down the runway, as seen in footage from China's state broadcaster CCTV, following an enthusiastic send-off by Pyongyang residents who lined the road to the airport, waving flags and chanting slogans of friendship.
Earlier, the leaders jointly planted a fir tree on the grounds of a key political training school for party cadres, which, according to Xinhua, symbolizes "constantly renewing friendship."
On the second day of his visit to China's only official treaty ally, Xi also visited the Sino-Korean Friendship Tower in Pyongyang, which commemorates Chinese soldiers who died in the Korean War, the agency added.
Both agreed to strive for closer strategic communication through visits by high-ranking officials, KCNA reports.
Kim told Xi that he would fully support the "One China" principle, which Beijing views as both sides of the Taiwan Strait belonging to one country, regardless of changes in the international situation, it added.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to establish control over the island, although Taipei rejects sovereignty claims.
However, despite the expressions of goodwill, analysts saw contrasting priorities in the official reports of the visit.
While Xinhua detailed proposals ranging from high-level exchanges to trade and agriculture, as well as the restoration of transport links, KCNA viewed the summit in a broader sense as a pact between equal partners, analysts noted.
Pyongyang emphasized the regime's dignity and the "special relationship" of the neighbors, added Lim Eul-chul, a professor at South Korea's Kyungnam University, while Beijing emphasized practical interstate ties and its initiatives regarding the international order.
"North Korea removed elements that could make it look like a subordinate, dependent, or beneficiary party, and reframed the relationship as one between equals," said Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
"This strengthened signals of solidarity, such as anti-American and Taiwan-related messages, while erasing signals of dependence or subordination," he pointed out.
China is North Korea's largest trading partner, and analysts said Xi's trip could be focused on trade and tourism.
Xi and First Lady Peng Liyuan attended a performance of Chinese and North Korean songs accompanied by Kim and his wife Ri Sol Ju, which underscored the "value and closeness of the friendship between the DPRK and China," KCNA reports.
Sino-North Korean relations have reached a "new historical starting point," Xi said at a banquet hosted by Kim to mark the 65th anniversary of the friendship treaty between the neighbors, KCNA added.
Xi pledged that Beijing would not back down from its commitment to protect common interests, Xinhua reported on Monday.
But North Korean media did not report whether Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program or its relations with the United States were discussed during the talks.
This absence suggests that Beijing wanted the visit to focus on neighborly ties, said Ja Ian Chong, a political science professor at the National University of Singapore.
During his first term, U.S. President Donald Trump met with Kim Jong Un three times before unprecedented diplomatic efforts collapsed over U.S. demands for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. Trump has stated he is ready to resume talks.
"It is doubtful that Xi will become a catalyst for talks between the U.S. and North Korea," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.