SEOUL, Oct. 7 (UPI) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang will visit North Korea this week to participate in events commemorating the founding of the North’s ruling political party, both countries said Tuesday.
Li will “lead a party and government delegation to the DPRK to attend the 80th anniversary celebrations of the Workers’ Party of Korea and pay an official goodwill visit” from Thursday to Saturday, China’s Foreign Ministry announced.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
“China and North Korea are traditionally friendly neighbors,” a ministry spokesperson said about the trip. “Maintaining, consolidating and developing China-North Korea relations has always been the unwavering strategic policy of the Chinese [Communist] Party and government.
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency also reported on the visit, which marks the highest-level appearance by a Chinese leader since President Xi Jinping’s trip to Pyongyang in 2019.
The relationship between the two longtime allies has shown signs of warming after widespread speculation of a rift over Pyongyang’s growing military alignment with Moscow.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Beijing last month to attend a military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, where he held his first summit with Xi in six years.
More recently, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui met with Li Qiang and her counterpart Wang Yi on a trip to Beijing last week.
Other high-ranking delegates slated to visit North Korea for the anniversary celebrations include Russia’s second-in-command, former President Dmitry Medvedev, and Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam.
Lam’s visit will be the first by Vietnam’s top leader since 2007.
According to an analysis of satellite imagery by Seoul-based SI Analytics, North Korea is preparing to hold its largest-ever military parade to mark the occasion. At least 14,000 personnel are expected to participate, and new weapons, such as the Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile, are likely to be unveiled.
