DPRK senior official visits China

One of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's highest-profile officials, career diplomat Ri Su-yong, held talks with a senior Chinese official in Beijing on Tuesday.

Song Tao, minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, met with the DPRK delegation led by Ri, according to a statement released on the department's website.

It was the first visit by a top DPRK official to China since the DPRK conducted a series of nuclear tests and missile launches defying sanctions by world powers early this year. The details of Ri's visit were not immediately available.

The DPRK side gave a briefing on the 7th congress of the ruling DPRK Workers' Party, which was held in early May.

Both sides agreed to cherish the traditional friendship between the two countries and enhance communications between the Communist Party of China and the DPRK Workers' Party, the statement said.

The two sides also agreed to make joint efforts to strengthen and develop the China-DPRK relationship and boost regional peace and stability, the statement said.

Ri Su-yong, served as the DPRK's foreign minister from April 2014 until he was named a member of the Politburo during the recent Worker's Party congress.