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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 20, 2019, in Pyongyang. (Yonhap News)

Li Jinjun, the Chinese ambassador to North Korea, published a recent contribution in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper in which he stressed that China remained unchanged in its original aims and course of developing goodwill with the North.

He went on to say that the two sides would continue working together to protect peace and cultivate the future. The piece was published on the second anniversary of a North Korea visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Printed on page four of the Rodong Sinmun, Li’s contribution was titled “Let us jointly cultivate a beautiful future for China-[North Korea] relations with an unchanging beginner’s mind and firm ambition.”

Stressing that Xi and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had shared a direction and tasks for the two sides to develop their relationship for a new era, he declared plans to put into practice the “important shared understanding achieved by our supreme leaders.”

On that basis, he stressed three major areas for the future: carrying on tradition and strengthening goodwill, promoting interchange and intensifying cooperation, and protecting peace and jointly cultivating the future.

In particular, Li noted Xi’s message stressing the importance of carrying on and advancing the traditional goodwill between North Korea and China in “outstanding” ways, regardless of the changes that arise in the international situation.

He went on to say the two sides would “actively contribute to regional peace, stability, development and prosperity, while strengthening communication at every possible level, and discuss issues necessary for long-term stability.”

He also described the people of North Korea as outstanding comrades, neighbors, and companions.

By Lee Je-hoon, senior staff writer

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