Intl community pays high attention to DPRK leader's unofficial visit to China

BEIJING - The international community paid high attention to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong-un's unofficial visit to China, which is widely thought to have a positive impact on the further detente of the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

At the invitation of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chinese president, Kim, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK, paid the unofficial visit to China from Sunday to Wednesday.

Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it welcomes the meeting between the Chinese and DPRK leaders, and it reiterated willingness to continue to work in close coordination with China towards a comprehensive settlement of problems in Northeast Asia via political and diplomatic means through a direct dialogue among all the parties concerned.

The Republic of Korea (ROK)'s Foreign Ministry hailed the talks between Xi and Kim and anticipated Kim's visit to China would contribute to the denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Russia's state-own news agency Rossiya Segodnya, the Associated Press, South Korea's Yonhap, Japan's Kyodo, Reuters, Agence France Presse and some other major global news outlets reported Kim's visit to China and his talks with Xi.

The KCNA said Kim was "accorded cordial hospitality with utmost sincerity" during his historic visit to China. The visit provides a significant opportunity to maintain the historical tradition of DPRK-China relations and develop the friendship to a higher level.

Rossiya Segodnya said in a commentary that Kim's visit demonstrates the friendship between China and the DPRK is unbreakable. It is the DPRK's strategic choice to inherit and develop the friendship with China under the new situation. The visit's main aim is to coordinate with China on the Korean Peninsula issue against the backdrop of positive changing on the peninsula situation.

Russia's Kommersant newspaper said Kim made his maiden visit abroad as DPRK top leader to China to show the solid China-DPRK relations. He also briefed China the latest changes of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and sought to coordinate their positions, which manifests that China plays an important role in the settlement of the nuclear issue on the peninsula.

The ROK's daily newspaper The Hankyoreh said the visit has sent a positive signal -- China's constructive role is indispensible in the settlement of the nuclear issue through the inter-Korean and DPRK-US summits and the construction of a system enjoying lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

US news network CNN said Kim's first foreign trip to China is designed to promote the development of bilateral ties. During his talks with Xi, Kim expressed his willingness to maintain the traditional bilateral friendship. He also pledged to work towards the denuclearization and peace of the Korean Peninsula.

Japan's daily newspaper Sankei Shimbun said Kim's visit is the first foreign trip by the DPRK leader, highlighting that China's role in resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue can not be neglected.