China, North Korea to strengthen strategic ties

China says it is ready to develop its relationship with North Korea to strengthen strategic cooperation in international and regional affairs, North Korea’s state media KCNA reported.

Chinese President Xi Jinping made the comment in a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday, KCNA said, adding that this was a reply to Kim’s message celebrating China’s anniversary of the foundation of the Communist Party.

China and North Korea are “good neighbours, good friends,” sharing destiny and helping each other, and the friendship is growing stronger, Xi was quoted as saying.

The two leaders prepared “a blueprint” for the development of relations at the meeting during Kim’s visit to China in September, Xi said in the letter quoted by KCNA.

On Saturday, foreign ministers of Indonesia and North Korea held a meeting in Pyongyang, KCNA said in a separate report.

The two sides exchanged views on strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation on regional and international issues of mutual concern, KCNA said.

The two nations also signed a memorandum of understanding on mutual issues, KCNA said, without elaborating.

The Indonesian minister is among foreign visitors in North Korea participating in the

ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of North Korea’s ruling party, according to KCNA.

At the massive military parade attended by foreign leaders, Kim Jong Un rolled out his nuclear-armed military’s most powerful weapons, including a new intercontinental ballistic missile he may be preparing to test in coming weeks.

The parade, which began in the rain on Friday night at Pyongyang’s main square and marked the 80th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party, highlighted Kim’s growing diplomatic footing and his relentless drive to build an arsenal that could target the continental United States and his rivals in Asia.

North Korean state media said on Saturday that the parade featured a new, yet-to-be-tested ICBM called the Hwasong-20, which it described as the country’s “most powerful nuclear strategic weapon system.”

Joined by high-level Chinese, Vietnamese and Russian officials at a podium, Kim said in a speech that his military “should continue to grow into an invincible entity that destroys all threats,” but made no direct mention of the United States or South Korea.

Agencies