(2nd LD) China's Li to visit N. Korea to attend key ruling party anniversary

▲ North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui (L) shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Sept. 29, 2025, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) Chinese premier-N Korea visit

(2nd LD) China's Li to visit N. Korea to attend key ruling party anniversary

(ATTN: ADDS more details in paras 2, 6, 11)

By Chae Yun-hwan

SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang will make a "goodwill" visit to North Korea this week to attend the North's commemorative events to mark the 80th founding anniversary of its ruling party, the North's state media said Tuesday.

Li will lead a Chinese delegation to take part in the celebrations of the founding anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), which falls on Friday this year, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Li's delegation will pay "an official goodwill visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the invitation of the Central Committee of the WPK and the DPRK government," the KCNA said in a report.

North Korea celebrates its ruling party's foundation anniversary on Oct. 10 every year.

China's foreign ministry also said Li will pay an official visit to North Korea from Thursday to Saturday, leading a party and government delegation.

Beijing seeks to strengthen strategic communication between the two countries and develop cooperative bilateral ties through the trip, it said.

In 2015, China sent a delegation led by Liu Yunshan, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and considered the country's fifth-highest ranking official at the time, for the North's celebrations of its 70th ruling party anniversary.

This week's commemorations are also set to be attended by high-ranking officials from other countries, including Vietnam's top leader To Lam and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council.

Li's visit comes as Pyongyang and Beijing appear to be warming ties, recently highlighted by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's visit to China last month to attend the country's military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Late last month, Li also met North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui for talks in Beijing.

Hong Min, a senior researcher at South Korea's Korea Institute for National Unification, assessed that the two countries' relations appear to be improving, noting that Li's scheduled trip is likely in response to Kim's visit to Beijing last month.

North Korea is expected to hold a large-scale military parade to celebrate its party anniversary this week. The South Korean military earlier said the North may stage a nighttime parade involving tens of thousands of personnel.

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