Prime Minister of the North Korean Cabinet Pak Tae-song, who visited China to mark the 65th anniversary of the signing of the North Korea-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, returned home after a two-night, three-day official schedule. Pak expressed thanks to the Chinese side and said he intends to comprehensively expand North Korea-China relations.
Korean Central News Agency reported on the 13th that Pak sent a message of thanks to Premier Li Qiang of the China State Council on his way home.
In the message, Pak expressed gratitude to the Chinese side for welcoming the North Korean government delegation and said, "I am satisfied that this visit proceeded successfully."
He also "expressed a willingness to work together with Chinese comrades to comprehensively expand and develop the traditional North Korea-China (DPRK-China) relations of friendship and cooperation in line with the demands of the new era," the news agency said.
The delegation led by Pak arrived in China on the 10th to attend events marking the 65th anniversary of the North Korea-China friendship treaty. During the visit, Pak paid a courtesy call on Chinese President Xi Jinping on the 10th and held talks the following day with Premier Li Qiang, second in China's power hierarchy.
The delegation also met in succession with China's top-ranking figures, including Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, and Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China, to discuss cooperation plans. Observers say China's leadership highlighted the two countries' close ties externally by arranging a series of meetings for North Korea's premier.
On the last day of the trip on the 12th, the delegation toured major facilities in Beijing and Tianjin before leaving China. In Beijing, they visited the Museum of the Communist Party of China to view related exhibits and went to the Beijing Urban Rail Transit Command Center to examine the subway operation and control system.
In the guest book at the Museum of the Communist Party of China, Pak wrote, "I hope the Chinese people will continue to achieve new successes in building a modern socialist country under the leadership of the Communist Party of China."
In Tianjin, they inspected industrial sites, including a green, low-carbon circular economy pilot base operated by China National Resources Recycling Corporation Limited. They also attended a welcome banquet hosted by the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee secretary.
As Pak and his party departed China, they were seen off by Wu Zhenglong, secretary-general of the China State Council, Wang Yajun, Chinese ambassador to North Korea, Hua Chunying, vice minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, and Ri Ryong-nam, North Korean ambassador to China.
At Pyongyang International Airport, they were received by First Vice Premier Kim Tok-hun, An Hyŏn-min, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Sŏn-gyŏng, and officials from the Chinese Embassy in North Korea.
Meanwhile, taking President Xi's visit to North Korea last month as an opportunity, North Korea and China reaffirmed through a summit and a joint statement that they would strengthen strategic communication and broaden the scope of cooperation. A visit to North Korea by China's top leader was the first in seven years since 2019. Pak's visit to China is also seen as an effort to carry forward the momentum for improved ties formed after summit diplomacy and to initiate full-scale high-level exchanges between the two countries.
The North Korea-China friendship treaty was signed in Beijing on July 11, 1961, by then North Korean Premier Kim Il Sung and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. It contains the so-called "automatic military intervention" clause, which requires the other side to provide military support if either party is subjected to an armed attack from outside, and is regarded as the institutional foundation underpinning the North Korea-China alliance.