The Koreas | Diplomacy | East Asia

China, North Korea Exchange High-Level Visits

The visits extend a string of high-level exchanges as Beijing works to keep pace with Pyongyang’s deepening ties with Moscow.

In this photo provided by North Korean state media, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un receives Wang Huning, China’s No. 4 ranked leader, in Pyongyang, North Korea, July 15, 2026.

According to North Korea’s state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Jo Yong Won, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and a member of the Presidium of its Political Bureau, held talks with Wang Huning, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Central Committee of China’s ruling Communist Party, at the Pyongyang Assembly Hall on July 15.

“The ever-changing present international political situation has required the two countries to further strengthen the militant unity, support and solidarity and steadily intensify and develop the friendly and cooperation relations for the victorious advance of the common cause of socialism in conformity with the basic spirit of the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance,” Jo was quoted as saying in the KCNA report. (DPRK is an acronym of North Korea’s official name: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.) As Pyongyang seeks to enhance its ties with Beijing, Jo reiterated Pyongyang’s will to develop the bilateral relations “in a many-sided way.” 

Wang also met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to photos published by KCNA, although no detailed report on those discussions had been issued as of this writing.

Just days before Wang’s visit to Pyongyang, a top North Korean official, Pak Thae Song – the premier of the Cabinet and, like Jo, a member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Workers’ Party of Korea – made a trip to Beijing from July 10-12. While there, Pak met with China’s top leader Xi Jinping.

The reciprocal visits came just a month after Xi visited Pyongyang to hold a summit meeting with Kim. It was Xi’s first visit to North Korea in seven years.

Officially, the purpose of all these exchanges is to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the China-DPRK Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. While in Pyongyang, Wang said that “the conclusion of the treaty between China and the DPRK laid a legal foundation to........

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