Kim Jong Un visits Chinese Korean War memorial, reaffirms commitment to cooperation by highlighting North Korea-China alliance

[Financial News] North Korean State Affairs Commission President Kim Jong Un visited Dandong in China’s Liaoning Province ahead of the 76th anniversary of China’s entry into the Korean War, reaffirming the North Korea-China alliance and expressing his resolve to carry on the friendship between the two countries.
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on the 25th, Kim visited Dandong the previous day and toured the Memorial Hall of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea to mark the 76th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army’s entry into the Korean front. Senior North Korean party and government officials accompanied him, including Jo Yong-won, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea; Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui; and Kim Yo Jong, director of the General Affairs Department. On the Chinese side, Wang Huning, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the country’s fourth-ranking official, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, among others, welcomed Kim. 
Kim exchanged greetings with Chinese officials who had come to meet him, while children presented bouquets and welcomed the delegation by waving the North Korean flag and China’s five-star red flag. 
Kim laid a wreath at the monument to the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. The flower basket bore the inscription: “We will forever remember the martyrs of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army. Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and President of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” 
The Chinese military designates October 25, the date of its first victory in the Korean War, as the anniversary of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (opposing the United States and helping North Korea). After paying his respects in front of the monument, Kim said, “Our people will forever remember the glorious years in which we fought alongside the Chinese people,” and, “We will pass down from generation to generation our eternal gratitude to the Chinese people, who helped our revolution with their blood.” 
Guided by Chairman Wang, Kim looked around at the archival materials on display at the Memorial Hall of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. Kim said, “The Memorial Hall of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea is a precious testament, forged in blood, to the invincible China-DPRK friendship,” and stressed “the will of our Party and government and our people to forever remember and uphold the splendid history of overcoming trials together, and to carry forward forever the invincible China-DPRK friendship forged in blood.” Kim also presented the memorial hall with a commemorative plaque featuring photographic materials of President Kim Il Sung.
In a conversation with Chairman Wang after the tour, Kim said that “it is a fitting duty and obligation to reverently recall the great era and history at the place from which the martyrs of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army departed for the front,” and that it was “a moment to once again reflect on the preciousness of the China-DPRK friendship forged in blood.” 
Chairman Wang conveyed greetings from President Xi to Kim and said that Kim’s visit to the Memorial Hall of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea “is of very great significance in continually carrying forward and developing traditional China-DPRK friendship and combat camaraderie.” KCNA added that “at President Xi’s special instructions, Chairman Wang hosted a banquet to welcome Kim’s visit to China.” 
After touring a bus factory in Dandong and encouraging the workers, Kim left China via the New Yalu River Bridge. Chinese central and local officials, led by Chairman Wang, accompanied Kim’s delegation to the midpoint of the bridge to see them off. Looking out at the view from the midpoint, Kim said, “There is no doubt that this bridge will properly fulfill its historic mission of linking the two countries and binding our hearts even more firmly,” KCNA reported. 
Kim’s visit to China came 1 year and 1 month after he traveled to Beijing last September to attend an event marking the 80th anniversary of China’s victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (Victory Day), and was his sixth visit since taking power. This was the first time Kim had visited China and returned without meeting President Xi. 
Kim’s decision to visit Dandong in person and highlight the blood alliance on the occasion of a traditional commemorative date between North Korea and China is seen as an effort to reaffirm the two countries’ traditional friendly ties. 
[email protected] Lim Su-bin Reporter