N. Korea-China to enrich friendship, advance 'socialist achievement': NK paper

North Korea and China seek to further develop their friendly relationship and pursue the advancement of socialist achievements, the North's official newspaper said Sunday, in marking the 70th anniversary of China's participation in the Korean War.

In its front-page editorial Sunday, the Rodong Sinmun, the official paper of the country's ruling party, said the participation of China's People's Volunteer Army (PVA) in the 1950-1953 Korean conflict was a display of the two country's friendship and comradeship bound together by destiny.

The paper described the nations' ties as "special and strong" and said that the relationship proved to display "great power" during times of severe hardships.

"It is our party's and the people's unshakable will to further develop the North Korea-China relation so that the world would envy and to actively advance socialist achievement through friendship and solidarity," the paper said.

The Rodong Sinmun also carried four special reports focusing on the relationship of the two allies.

Last week, Pyongyang celebrated the 70th anniversary of the PVA's participation in the Korean War.

According to the North's official Korea Central News Agency, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent floral baskets to China to pay tribute to fallen PVA soldier and visited the cemetery of fallen Chinese soldiers in the North's South Pyongan Province and paid his respects.

He also pledged to further boost friendly relations with China in a reply message to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who sent a congratulatory letter to Kim to mark the 75th founding anniversary of the North's ruling Workers' Party.   China fought alongside the North against South Korean, U.S. and United Nations 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.

Pyongyang has been seeking to maintain closer ties with its traditional ally amid an impasse in nuclear negotiations with Washington. (Yonhap)