Xi vows to bolster ties with N.Korea in letter to Kim

Seoul, Oct 23 (IANS) In a letter to Kim Jong-un, Chinese President Xi Jinping has reaffirmed efforts to strengthen bilateral relations with North Korea, Pyongyang's state media reported on Saturday.

Xi made the remarks in a reply to North Korean leader Kim's earlier letter to mark the 72nd Chinese National Day, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

In the reply, Xi said he has highly taken note of relations between North Korea and China, and expressed his willingness to raise bilateral ties to a "new level", Yonhap News Agency reported citing KCNA.

North Korea and China have emphasised their close relations amid the paused nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington, and an escalating rivalry between the two superpowers.

Xi expressed "intent to steadily propel the relations to a new stage by strengthening strategic communications, deepening the friendship and cooperation and leading them to be conducive to mutual support through joint endeavours with Kim Jong-un", according to the KCNA report.

Xi also noted that North Korea and China "are linked by the same mountain and rivers, and the traditional friendship between the two countries is getting more solid over time", the report said.

Previously, Kim vowed to raise the Pyongyang-Beijing "friendship to a new strategic point as required by the times and as desired by the peoples of the two countries."

China fought alongside the North against South Korean, US and UN troops during the Korean War that ended in an armistice on July 27, 1953.

Sunday marks the 70th anniversary of China's entry into the war.

North Korea has been seeking to maintain closer ties with its traditional ally amid an impasse in nuclear negotiations with the US.