DHAKA: The leaders of China and North Korea will meet when it is convenient for them.

China’s foreign minister said on Sunday, calling China’s isolated neighboring country a friend, reports The Straits Times.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has yet to visit China, his country’s only remaining ally of any importance, since assuming office after his father died in 2011, though he is expected to go to Russia this year.

Ties with China have cooled since Kim took over and then, in 2013, defied international warnings and United Nations sanctions to conduct a third nuclear test.

‘As to when leaders of the two countries will meet, we have to see when it is convenient for both parties,’ Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi told reporters on the sidelines of an annual meeting of China’s Parliament.

Wang described North Korea as a ‘friendly neighbor’. The two were allies in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

‘We cherish our traditional friendship with North Korea and we seek the normal development of our relations. The China-North Korea relationship has a strong foundation... It should not and will not be affected by temporary events.’

BDST: 1127 HRS, MAR 08, 2015