A top North Korean military official at Beijing meetings with Chinese counterparts over the weekend pledged to improve ties between the two countries’ armed forces, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Monday.

Kim Su Gil, who serves as Director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People’s Army (KPA), arrived in Beijing on Friday.

He and other DPRK officials then met with Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the following day at the Bayi Building, KCNA said.

Zhang reportedly hailed the delegation’s visit as being of “crucial significance