A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C-L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (C-R) toasting during a state dinner at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 19 June 2018. Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is visiting the People’s Republic of China from 19 to 20 June. Photo by KCNA/EPA
Jan. 1 (Asia Today) — Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife sent New Year’s greetings to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but North Korean state media gave the exchange scant attention and did not publish Xi’s message, according to diplomatic sources in Beijing.
The Korean Central News Agency mentioned Xi’s greeting in a roundup of messages from multiple foreign leaders, including Vietnam’s president and Myanmar’s interim president, the sources said. Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party, also carried the item in a brief reference placed low in its coverage.
Neither outlet disclosed the contents of Xi’s greeting, the sources said, in contrast with extensive coverage of Kim’s exchange with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
North Korea reported that Kim sent Putin a New Year’s message Saturday and published it on Rodong Sinmun’s front page, the sources said. North Korea also said Putin sent Kim a New Year’s message Thursday.
The sources said North Korea published the full text of New Year’s letters exchanged by Kim and Putin a year ago, underscoring what it portrayed as close ties between Pyongyang and Moscow.
The muted handling of Xi’s greeting comes despite signs of a thaw in North Korea-China relations after a summit in Beijing on Sept. 3 during China’s Victory Day anniversary events, the sources said. Even so, they said this year’s coverage suggested lingering frictions have not been fully resolved.
The sources said Kim also exchanged New Year’s greetings with Hur Jong-man, chairman of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan. They added that the General Association of Koreans in China sent Kim a lengthy congratulatory message.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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