Senior Chinese and North Korean officials hold talks in Pyongyang

SEOUL: China’s fourth-highest-ranked official, Wang Huning, held talks in Pyongyang with a top official of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday (Jul 16). The meeting is the latest in a series of high-level exchanges between Beijing and Pyongyang following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea in June – the first in seven years – and reflects China’s efforts to reinforce its influence over its traditional ally amid North Korea’s deepening ties with Russia. The Chinese delegation led by Wang arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday, at the invitation of North…