On Monday, DPRK Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un held a welcome banquet for visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping. Kim Jong Un stated that the DPRK and China are not only neighboring countries sharing a border geographically, but are also closely united through shared ideology and combat friendship, enduring life and death and overcoming difficulties together through a long period of history.
Xi Jinping and his wife arrived in Pyongyang at noon on Monday, where Kim Jong Un and his wife personally welcomed them at the airport. The two leaders then held talks at the Kumsusan State Guesthouse.
According to KCNA, Kim Jong Un hosted a banquet at the Mokran House on Monday evening to welcome Xi Jinping's visit. In his speech at the banquet, Kim Jong Un said that through this Pyongyang meeting and talks, both sides have reaffirmed their resolve to jointly create a better future for the peoples of both countries, working hand in hand on the common journey of achieving the socialist cause.
Kim Jong Un said that the two parties and two countries are not just neighboring states due to a geographical border, but are closely united on the basis of shared ideology and combat friendship. This unity has enabled them to share life and death and overcome hardships together through long years, further strengthening their bond of unity and cooperation.
Kim Jong Un stated his willingness to work with the Chinese side to elevate the DPRK-China friendship, based on a long-standing history and fine tradition, to a new height, developing it into the strongest and most strategic model of relations between socialist countries.
Xi Jinping is paying a two-day state visit to North Korea. This is his first visit to North Korea in seven years, as well as his first overseas visit this year. The last meeting between Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un was in September last year when Kim Jong Un visited Beijing to attend the “September 3rd Military Parade.”