N Korea leader pays respect to Chinese war dead at memorial
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has paid tribute to China’s war dead at a Pyongyang memorial and vowed to maintain firm ties with Beijing, as he seeks to bolster relations with his country’s main ally amid deepening hardships linked to the pandemic
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un paid tribute to China s war dead at a Pyongyang memorial and vowed to maintain firm ties with Beijing, state media reported Thursday, as he seeks to bolster relations with his country's main ally amid deepening hardships linked to the pandemic.
Kim’s visit Wednesday to the Friendship Tower that honors Chinese soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War was his third since he took power in late 2011. It came a day after the 68th anniversary of the end of the war.
“The noble soul and exploits of the Chinese people who aided the sacred historic struggle of the Korean people at the cost of their blood when (North Korea) was undergoing the harshest and most difficult trials will remain immortal,” Kim said at the memorial, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim stressed “the (countries’) friendship forged as kindred ties will be firmly carried forward generation after generation on the road for the common cause,” KCNA said.
China fought alongside North Korea against South Korea and U.S.-led U.N. forces during the Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula still technically at war.
Kim has vowed to upgrade his country’s relations with China, its economic pipeline, as he struggles to navigate North Korea out of what he calls its “worst-ever” crisis caused by the pandemic, U.S.-led sanctions and last year's natural disasters.
Earlier this week, Kim agreed to restore cross-border communication channels with rival South Korea following a 13-month hiatus, and improve bilateral ties.
Some experts say Kim wants better ties with the outside world in the face of the economic difficulties. But others say North Korea may just want South Korea to convince the United States to make concessions when the long-stalled nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington eventually resume.