Seoul/Pyongyang: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un backed China’s campaign for a “multipolar world” and pushed for closer cooperation between the long-standing allies in a Friday meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to state media reports on Saturday.
Kim pledged his regime’s complete backing for Beijing’s pursuit of territorial unity under its “one-China principle” — Beijing’s stance that Taiwan forms an inseparable part of China — per North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
He also detailed Pyongyang’s views on various regional and international topics of “mutual concern,” emphasizing that “sustained development of ties between the two countries has become more crucial in the current geopolitical environment,” KCNA added.
Wang, wrapping up a two-day Pyongyang visit, noted that relations were entering a “new phase” post last year’s Kim-Xi summit.
Aligning Against Isolation
Kim has increasingly embraced rhetoric of a “new Cold War” and “multipolarised world” to escape diplomatic isolation, pursuing bolder outreach to US foes. Russia remains his foremost partner, with North Korean forces and major arms deliveries aiding Moscow’s Ukraine campaign, yet he is rebuilding bonds with China—Pyongyang’s historic economic backbone.
Kim’s September presence with Putin at a Beijing WWII commemoration, plus his first Xi summit in six years, bolsters his narrative of a unified anti-Washington bloc.
Practical Ties Resume
Direct flights and passenger rail links between North Korea and China restarted last month, ending a COVID-19 hiatus from 2020. Wang landed in Pyongyang Thursday — his first trip in seven years — holding prior discussions with Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui on boosting exchanges, cooperation, and candid global talks, as covered by both nations’ outlets.
No mentions surfaced of US matters or Middle East tensions in the coverage.
Broader Diplomatic Context
The visit precedes US President Donald Trump’s rescheduled May Beijing summit with Xi. Certain South Korean figures hope it might unlock channels to Pyongyang. Yet Kim halted substantive engagement with the US and South — now deemed his “most hostile” foe — after 2019 talks with Trump imploded during the US leader’s initial term. He has spurned Washington’s overtures, demanding abandonment of denuclearization as a starting point.
