Defense chiefs of China, N. Korea renew ties

North Korea's Minister of the People's Armed Forces Kim Il-Chol conferred with Chinese Defense Minister and deputy chairman of the Communist Party Central Military Commission Zhu Haotyen in Pyongyang on Sunday to agree on strengthening bilateral military ties, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported. Kim is also vice chairman of North Korea¡¯s National Defense Commission.

The talks between the defense chiefs of the two allies came for the first time since 1993 and the visit by the deputy head of the powerful Central Military Commission was the first in 12 years. Kim expressed his belief in the renewed development of the traditional partnership between the militaries of the two countries while his Chinese counterpart called for sustained mutual efforts to strengthen cooperative ties between the two.

Minister Kim made it clear that Pyongyang is opposed to the National Missile Defense scheme and the Theater Missile Defense plan of the United States but it was not known if he brought up the question of continued U.S. military presence in Korea during the talks. He said he observed from the meeting that China was in favor of peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and improved relations between the two Koreas.