Pyongyang and Beijing Deepen Cooperation

One of the outcomes of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the DPRK was the decision to hold celebratory events to mark the 65th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the DPRK and the PRC in July 2026.

A Few Words About the 1961 Treaty

North Korea and China signed the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance on July 11, 1961. Its key feature is the provision on mutual defense, which obliges the parties to come to each other’s aid in the event of an armed attack. Notably, for China, this is the only such treaty with a foreign state.

Over the decades, relations between Pyongyang and Beijing have undergone serious transformations, which was also reflected in the interpretation of the document. Thus, in the 2010s, Chinese experts emphasized that defense obligations would come into force only in the case of unprovoked aggression against the DPRK by the United States and its allies. If the conflict were initiated by Pyongyang itself, Beijing, in their opinion, would limit itself to political and diplomatic support. Today, this rhetoric has become a thing of the past. Now experts are asking a different question: how will the DPRK behave if China requests assistance, for example, in the event of a conflict around Taiwan? Opinions on this matter differ.

Diplomacy of Gestures and Party Unity

Despite geopolitical shifts, the frequency of high-level contacts remains high. On June 15, 2026, Kim Jong Un congratulated Xi Jinping on his birthday, accompanied by a basket of flowers and wishes of success in “building socialism.” In his response letter, Xi Jinping described the relations between the two countries as “long-term and stable,” with special emphasis on the fact that the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and the Communist Party of China (CPC) are “Marxist ruling parties.”

On June 30, 2026, the Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK, Wang Yajun, organized a reception in honor of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. Among the guests of honor were high-ranking representatives of the........

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