hankyoreh

As North Korea congratulated China on its 57th founding anniversary on Saturday, its leader Kim Jong-il pledged to develop friendship and cooperation with the ally.

Relations between China and North Korea have been uneasy since the latter test-fired missiles in early July. China approved U.S.-led weapons-related sanctions against the North, and Kim is known to have said China cannot be trusted.

According to the North's Korean Central News Agency, however, Kim sent a congratulatory letter to his counterpart in China, Hu Jintao, for the anniversary on Oct. 1, which said, "It is the consistent stand of the Workers' Party of (North) Korea and the DPRK government to develop Korea-China relations." DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

The letter also expressed the belief that the friendship between North Korea and China will be boosted more vitally by the joint efforts of the parties, governments and peoples of the two countries in the future. Kim' letter was also signed by the North's titular head Kim Yong-nam and the DPRK Cabinet Premier Pak Pong-ju, addressed to their respective counterparts in China, Wu Bangguo and Wen Jiabao.

Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Liu Xiaoming hosted a reception at the Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang on Friday on the occasion of the anniversary, the KCNA said.

"The Sino-Korean friendship was forged by the elder leaders of the two countries," Liu was quoted as saying. "It is the steadfast policy of the Chinese party and government to steadily develop the Sino-Korean relations of friendship and cooperation."

Seoul, Sept. 30 (Yonhap News)