North Korean leader Kim Jong Un voiced support for China’s push to build a “multipolar world” and called for deeper ties between the traditional allies during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, state media said Saturday.
During the meeting Friday, Kim said his government will fully support Chinese efforts to achieve territorial integrity based on its” ““one-China principle,” a reference to Beijing’s official position that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, according to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim also outlined North Korea’s position on unspecified regional and international issues of “mutual concern” and said sustained development of ties between the two countries has become more crucial in the current geopolitical environment, KCNA said.
Wang, on a two-day trip to North Korea, said the countries’ relations were entering a “new phase” following a summit last year between Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Embracing the ideas of a “new Cold War” and a “multipolarized world,” Kim has sought to break out of international isolation and push a more assertive foreign policy by expanding ties with governments locked in confrontations with the United States.
While Russia has been Kim’s top foreign policy priority in recent years, sending thousands of troops and large weapons shipments to support its war against Ukraine, he has also been cozying up to China, the North’s traditional main ally and economic lifeline.
Kim joined Russian President Vladimir Putin at a World War II ceremony in Beijing in September and held his first summit with Xi Jinping in six years, moves that supported his efforts to portray North Korea as part of a united front against Washington.
North Korea and China last month resumed direct flight and passenger train services, which had been suspended since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
