North Korean officials pay tribute to fallen Chinese soldiers at Friendship Tower

North Korean officials have paid tribute at Friendship Tower in Pyongyang in honor of fallen Chinese soldiers, state media reported on Monday, after leader Kim Jong-un’s surprise day trip to China’s Dandong last week.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency said that senior officials laid wreaths at the monument Sunday to mark the 76th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army’s entry into the 1950-53 Korean War.

Among them were Kim Hyong-sik, the vice chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly’s standing committee, and Vice Foreign Minister Kim Myong-su. They were joined by Chinese embassy officials, including Qi Han, the chargé d’affaires ad interim, and a Chinese delegation led by Hong Zongming, the vice minister of China’s veterans affairs ministry.

Wreaths were also laid at cemeteries and graves of Chinese soldiers in Anju, Hoechang County, Onsong County and Kaesong.

The Chinese side hosted a reception later on Sunday to mark the anniversary, the report added.

The North Korean leader traveled to the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday, a trip meant to showcase the decades-old alliance with China and mark the anniversary. He visited a war memorial to Chinese soldiers who fought in the Korean War, attended a banquet and toured a bus factory.

Yonhap