Senior envoys from North Korea and China agree to defend shared interests

Reporting on the meeting between Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, the North’s official KCNA news agency said on Saturday that the two countries had decided to fortify their tactical cooperation and protect shared interests.

As Sun met with Pak Myong Ho, his counterpart from North Korea, in Pyongyang on Friday, China said that the two nations decided to reinforce strategic communications “at all levels” and reiterate their “unswerving stance” on strengthening ties.

On Thursday, Sun crossed the border between the two countries at Sinuiju and arrived in Pyongyang. It was North Korea’s most recent communication with China and Russia as it escalates hostilities with South Korea and the United States.

North Korea has dramatically upgraded its ties with the two U.N. Security Council permanent members and traditional allies, which have come around to stand with Pyongyang as it speeds up the development of an array of tactical and strategic weapons.

Beijing and Moscow, which previously voted against Pyongyang at the U.N. for its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes, have since 2017 refused to join in imposing more sanctions, backing the North’s position it is exercising its right to self defense.