By Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told Chinese President Xi Jinping that North Korea will continue to support China in protecting Chinese sovereignty, territory and development interests, North Korean state media KCNA said on Friday.
"No matter how the international situation changes, the feeling of friendship cannot change" between North Korea and China, Kim told Xi during bilateral talks in Beijing on Thursday, KCNA reported.
Xi told Kim that China and North Korea are "good
neighbors, good friends and good comrades" who share one destiny, according to KCNA.
The leaders discussed strengthening strategic cooperation and protecting common interests in international and regional issues, and conducting more visits among high-ranking officials between the two countries as well as strategic communication, KCNA said.
KCNA confirmed that Kim left Beijing on Thursday to return to North Korea. Senior Chinese officials including top-ranked Communist Party official Cai Qi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi were there to send Kim off, KCNA said.
Kim's visit to China "marked a historic occasion which further strengthened the political trust and strategic cooperation between... the two countries," KCNA reported. It was evidence of "the invariability and invincibility of the DPRK-China friendly relations that... overcame all sorts of trials and challenges," KCNA said, using the initials of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent Kim a congratulatory message for North Korea's foundation day on Thursday, KCNA said.
"Your combat force's heroic involvement in liberating the Kursk territories from the invaders is a distinct symbol of friendship and mutual aid between Russia and North Korea", Putin's message read, according to KCNA.
"I am confident that we will continue to work together to consolidate the comprehensive strategic partnership between our two countries," Putin said.
North Korea has sent soldiers, artillery ammunition and missiles to Russia to support Moscow in its war against Ukraine. During a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday, Kim told Putin his country would "fully support" Russia's army as a "fraternal duty", KCNA previously said.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee in Seoul; Editing by Leslie Adler, Matthew Lewis and Lincoln Feast.)
