N. Korea foreign minister visits Beijing to meet counterpart
Beijing, (MILLAT ONLINE):North Korea’s foreign minister arrived in Beijing Tuesday for talks with his counterpart, a week after Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un made a surprise trip to China before planned summits with the US and South Korean presidents.
The latest visit, disclosed by China’s foreign ministry, is part of a flurry of diplomacy that has eased regional tensions after months of bellicose rhetoric between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman did not say when Foreign Minister Wang Yi would meet North Korea’s Ri Yong Ho.
The spokesman, Geng Shuang, indicated that the visit would be short. Wang is scheduled to be in Russia on Wednesday.
“Details on the meeting will be provided in a timely manner,” Geng said.
North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said Ri was heading a government delegation that left on Tuesday for a conference of foreign ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement in Azerbaijan.
Ri will also visit Russia and other former Soviet states.
Kim last week met President Xi Jinping on his first trip abroad since inheriting power from his father Kim Jong Il in December 2011.
China is the North’s only significant ally and trade partner, but ties had cooled since it began enforcing UN sanctions aimed at curbing its neighbour’s nuclear and missile programmes.
Kim’s secretive visit was dubbed “unofficial” but bore all the trappings of an official state occasion, with honour guards, bouquets, red carpets and meetings with most of China’s top leaders.
Kim is now due to hold a summit with South Korea’s Moon Jae-in on April 27 and a landmark meeting with US President Donald Trump is also planned — events that give both Pyongyang and Beijing new incentives to repair their strained relationship.
Wang struck a note of caution about the diplomatic flurry during a press conference with Switzerland’s visiting foreign minister.
“Of course, historical experience tells us that when the situation on the (Korean) peninsula eases and peace talks usher in the light of dawn, there are often all types of disturbances,” he said, calling on all parties to “eliminate interference” and continue dialogue.
The diplomatic thaw began during February’s Winter Olympics in South Korea, to which Kim sent athletes, cheerleaders and his sister as an envoy.