At a time South Korea and the US are trying to re-start talks on halting Pyongyang's dubious nuclear programs, the defense chiefs of China and North Korea have pledged to strengthen their long-standing military alliance.
KCNA, the North Korean official news agency, quoted visiting Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie as saying Monday that the bilateral relationship was "sealed in blood" and "no force on earth can break the unity of the armies and peoples of the two (Communist) countries and it will last forever."
Guanglie and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-chun held talks later.
The Chinese Defense Minister, who is on a three-nation regional tour, arrived in Pyongyang Sunday. He inspected a guard of honor and presented a gift for North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.
Guanglie's visit comes close on the heels of Chinese President Wen Jiabao's visit of North Korea.
The six-nation talks aimed at forcing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program have been stalled since last year.
Stephen Bosworth, US special envoy dealing with North Korea's nuclear issue, would be visiting that country on December 8, to discuss re-starting the stalled Six-Party talks.
In the latest act of defying international calls to end its nuclear program, North Korea claimed early this month that it had completed reprocessing 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods to extract plutonium for manufacturing nuclear weapons.
Analysts say this quantity is enough to make at least one atomic bomb.
This is in violation of a 2007 deal North Korea signed with the US, South Korea, China, Russia and Japan, agreeing to dismantle all its nuclear facilities and programs in exchange for diplomatic concessions, energy, and other aid.
United States has already made it clear that it will neither have normal relations with North Korea nor will relax its sanctions against the reclusive country until Pyongyang abandons nuclear arms.
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