North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese president Xi Jinping held broad discussions over the political situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula and called for stronger bilateral ties in the face of “serious and complicated changes” in the region, the North’s state media said.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Friday the leaders reached “shared understanding” on the issues they discussed during their summit in Pyongyang on Thursday.
The agency did not report on any specific discussions on the stalled nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.
“The supreme leaders …. broadly exchanged their opinions on the political situation of the Korean Peninsula and other serious international and regional issues,” the KCNA said.
“They assessed that deepening their relationship was in line with the mutual interest of the two countries in face of serious and complicated changes in the environment and would be favourable for the region’s peace, stability and development.”
Chinese state media earlier reported that Mr Kim told Mr Xi he is waiting for a desired response from Washington and the US should meet North Korea halfway to “explore resolution plans that accommodate each other’s reasonable concerns”.
Xi said his government is willing to play a constructive role in the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
“The international community expects the US and North Korea to continue to talk and achieve results,” he said, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Mr Xi and Mr Kim attended a dinner reception and a mass games performance later on Thursday, the reports said.
Mr Xi later on Friday concludes the first visit to North Korea by a Chinese president in 14 years.
He is expected to meet with President Donald Trump next week in Japan and could pass him a message from Kim about the nuclear negotiations.
Mr Xi’s two-day state visit to North Korea, announced just three days ago, began with the synchronized pomp of all major events in the country.
About 10,000 cheering people and a 21-gun salute greeted Xi and senior Chinese officials at an arrival ceremony at Pyongyang’s airport.
The CCTV evening news showed Mr Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, waving to the crowd after emerging from their Air China plane, then being greeted by Mr Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, before receiving flowers and watching goose-stepping troops march by.
The crowd stood in tight formations, waving flowers and chanting slogans to welcome v Xi.
Other people lined the roads and cheered from overpasses as Mr Xi’s motorcade travelled to central Pyongyang, where he joined Mr Kim in an open-top vehicle.
They waved to crowds as they rode to the square where the embalmed bodies of Mr Kim’s grandfather and father, the first two leaders of North Korea, lie in state.
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