SEOUL, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Cuba and North Korea reaffirmed vows of friendship in a meeting between Cuba's vice president and Kim Jong Un, less than two months after Havana restored diplomatic ties with Washington.
Cuba's Progreso Weekly reported Miguel Diaz-Canel was visiting the North Korean leader in Pyongyang, on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Pyongyang and Havana. Cuban website Cubadebate referred to North Korea as a "sisterly nation."
Diaz-Canel said that the "friendly relations between the two countries provided by the great Comrade Kim Il Sung and Comrade Kim Jong Il together with Comrades Fidel Castro Ruz and Raúl Castro Ruz are steadily developing under the special care of Comrade Kim Jong Un," a statement that resonated with the North Korean leadership, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
Kim Jong Un said he would strengthen ties with Cuba in the tradition of previous leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, and that a strong will is needed for relations to flourish. Yonhap reported Kim Yang Gon, the director of the United Front Department of the Korean Workers' Party, was present at the meetings, possibly to engage in in-depth dialogue regarding the recent restoration of Cuba's ties with the United States.
The meeting with the Cuban delegation was the first time Kim Jong Un has met directly with foreign envoys in Pyongyang since July 2013. He previously has met with Wang Jialui, director of the Chinese Communist Party's International Department, and Li Jianguo, a Chinese politician currently serving as a member of the Politburo of the Party.
Diaz-Canel's visit to Pyongyang began Sept. 4 after the delegation had attended Victory Day celebrations in Beijing. In North Korea, Kim Jong Un and first lady Ri Sol Ju accompanied the Cuban vice president and his spouse to a concert where North Korea's all-woman band Moranbong performed the Cuban song "Guantanamera," as images of Fidel and Raul Castro meeting with past Pyongyang leaders were projected to an onstage screen.
Top North Korean officials Hwang Pyong So, Kim Ki Nam and Choi Ryong Hae also were in attendance.
