North Korea praises China Communist Party
18 Oct 2017 10:34 PM IST
Seoul: North Korea issued an unusually short congratulatory message to China's Communist Party on Wednesday as President Xi Jinping opened its five-year congress amid strained ties between the two traditional allies.
China is North Korea's longtime ally and economic benefactor, saving the country from defeat during the 1950-53 Korean War.
But the relationship has soured in recent months over Pyongyang's growing weapons ambitions, which have seen Beijing agree to toughened United Nations sanctions.
In a three-paragraph message carried by the official KCNA news agency, the North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) "warmly congratulated the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China and sent warm greetings to all the party members and other Chinese people".
"The Chinese have made great progress in accomplishing the cause of building socialism... and we are greatly pleased over this," it added.
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