SEOUL, July 17 (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held talks with Wang Huning, China’s fourth-highest-ranked official in Pyongyang, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Friday.
The Chinese delegation led by Wang arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday, at the invitation of North Korea.
The meeting is the latest in a series of high-level exchanges between Beijing and Pyongyang following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea in June — the first in seven years — and reflects China’s efforts to reinforce its influence over its traditional ally amid North Korea’s deepening ties with Russia.
Both Kim and Wang said they would work to implement the agreement reached between China and North Korea during Xi’s visit.
Xi and Kim agreed to expand cooperation in politics, economy and culture as well as strategic communication through visits by high-level officials, KCNA said at the time.
The Chinese delegation led by Wang also visited a memorial site dedicated to Chinese soldiers who died in the Korean War, a Workers’ Party cadre training school and the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a mausoleum where the bodies of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are preserved, KCNA said.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh and Hyeyoon Cho; Editing by Alistair Bell)
