Chinese Ambassador to North Korea: "This Year Holds Significant Meaning for China-North Korea Relations"

Wang Yajun, the Chinese Ambassador to North Korea, stated that this year holds "significant meaning" for North Korea-China relations.

Yonhap News

According to the Chinese Embassy in North Korea on April 29, Ambassador Wang met with reporters from the Xinhua News Agency's Pyongyang bureau at the embassy in Pyongyang that day and said, "2025 will be a year of great significance for the relationship between China and North Korea."

Previously, North Korea and China declared last year, which marked the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, as the "Year of North Korea-China Friendship" and pledged to strengthen exchanges. However, aside from Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, visiting North Korea in April of that year, no notable high-level exchanges were announced, and the closing ceremony of the "Year of North Korea-China Friendship," which was supposed to be held in China at the end of the year, was not held at all.

However, in February of this year, Park Myongho, North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister, visited the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang and delivered a message to Ambassador Wang Yajun expressing hope for strengthened cooperation. In addition, as analysis suggested that North Korea was preparing to reopen its borders, which had been closed due to COVID-19, there are growing expectations that exchanges between North Korea and China may gradually resume.

In February, China resumed reporting from North Korea by sending journalists from its key state-run media outlets, People's Daily and CCTV, into North Korea via Sinuiju for the first time in five years. This month, personnel responsible for managing Chinese memorial facilities for Korean War volunteers also returned to North Korea.