SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has welcomed China’s No. 3 official — Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress — to Pyongyang days after President Biden hosted the leaders of the Philippines and Japan in Washington.
Mr. Kim hosted Mr. Zhao at a Saturday lunch meeting “of very weighty significance in demonstrating the invincibility of the [North Korea]-China friendship and further developing the traditional friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries as required by the times,” state media monitored in Seoul reported Sunday.
Mr. Kim was photographed embracing his visitor and offering the traditional Chinese-style salute to Mr. Zhao as he drove off after his three-day visit to North Korea. Their talks were aimed at “boosting the multi-faceted exchange and cooperation for developing the friendly and cooperative relations dear to the two parties and two countries into more viable ties,” North Korean media reported.
Mr. Zhao’s visit to Pyongyang closely followed the trilateral summit of Mr. Bien, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos II in Washington, where they discussed the Chinese military’s growing regional presence.
Japan and the Philippines have territorial disputes with China in, respectively, the Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea and the Senkaku/Diayou islands in the East China Sea.
Recent naval drills in the South China Sea have involved Australian, Japanese, Philippine and U.S. vessels. East China Sea drills have involved Japanese, South Korean and U.S. ships.
China has flouted international law to lay claim to most waters around Southeast Asia, and North Korea has long criticized U.S.-South Korean military exercises as provocations and preparations for invasion.
Mr. Zhao’s visit comes amid Western concerns of an emerging alliance between Beijing, Pyongyang and Moscow. Observers note that Mr. Kim met Russian President Vladimir Putin last year at a satellite launch center in Russia’s Far East and anticipate a reciprocal visit by Mr. Putin to Pyongyang in the near future.
What’s more, Pyongyang has sent ballistic missiles and undisclosed amounts of tactical ammunition to help Russia restore its stockpiles that have been depleted in its war against Ukraine. South Korean sources allege that Russia, in return, has assisted North Korea with its satellite and satellite launch technologies.
Meanwhile, Moscow last month vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution to renew a panel that oversees sanctions on North Korea. China abstained from the vote.