Kim Jong Un hosts Chinese delegates

PYONGYANG, North Korea, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Tensions between North Korea and the Chinese government have decreased since the April launch of a long-range rocket, a South Korean analyst said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in his first diplomatic gesture, hosted Chinese delegates at Pyongyang. Kim took power in December after his father Kim Jong Il died and has since been declared supreme leader of the country's military.

China joined members of the international community in calling for restraint after North Korea tried to send a satellite into orbit in April. Similar efforts in 2006 and 2009 coincided with the tests of nuclear devices.

Yoo Ho-yeoi, a North Korean analyst at the Korea University in Seoul, told Bloomberg News that hosting China first was an important sign for Pyongyang's leader.

"The friendly nature of the meeting with the Chinese signals that the tenseness caused by the April rocket launch has thawed," he said.

North Korea is working to respond to torrential rains that inundated parts of the country, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. The United Nations confirmed Thursday that North Korea issued a request for emergency food aid.

China is North Korea's largest trading partner.