Top North Korean official makes surprise visit to China

A top North Korean official made a surprise visit to China on Tuesday, in a potential sign of Pyongyang's latest attempt to mend fences with its most important ally, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

    The official is Ri Su Yong, a former foreign minister who became a vice chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea at its once-in-a-generation congress in early May. His arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport was confirmed by Kyodo News.

    Ri is expected to brief Chinese officials on the results of the party's congress, which was held for the first time in 36 years, according to diplomatic sources.

    He is the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit China since last September when Kim Jong Un's close aide Choe Ryong Hae attended a military parade in Beijing in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

    When China subsequently sent Liu Yunshan, the Communist Party's fifth-ranked leader, to Pyongyang last October as its representative at events marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of North Korea's ruling party, there were tentative signs of warming relations between the two countries.

    But they again quickly cooled down after North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

Source: QNA