Xi meets North Korea premier ahead of 65th treaty anniversary
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- Xi Jinping met North Korea's Premier Pak Thae Song in Beijing on Friday, with Pak arriving for a three-day visit to attend events marking the 65th anniversary of the neighbours' 1961 friendship treaty.
- The Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, signed July 11, 1961, remains China's only active mutual defence pact.
- The meeting comes a month after Xi made his first trip to Pyongyang in seven years, where he and Kim Jong Un agreed to expand cooperation across politics, economy, and culture.
- China-North Korea ties have warmed since late 2025, with both sides resuming passenger train services and direct flights between their capitals.
- Pak, 70, became premier in December 2024 after a Workers' Party career spanning propaganda, disciplinary, industrial, science, and education roles; he was sidelined in the early 2020s during North Korea's COVID lockdowns and has rarely travelled abroad.
Why it matters: The treaty carries unique legal weight: it's China's only active mutual defence pact. The diplomatic sequence — Xi's first Pyongyang visit in seven years, resumed flights and trains, and now a three-day premier-level reception in Beijing — turns the 65th anniversary into a public stage for both sides to formalize cooperation deals struck a month ago.
