NK leader shows gestures for stronger ties with China

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is showing gestures for strengthening friendly relations with China after the North`s attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong.

His moves are believed to be aimed at using China as a shield against an imminent South Korea-U.S. military drill and mounting global criticism of the attack.

China`s official Xinhua News Agency said Friday that Kim sent a floral wreath Thursday to the grave of Mao Anying, the eldest son of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, to mark the 60th anniversary of his being killed in action in the Korean War.

North Korean People`s Armed Forces Minister Kim Yong Chun and Public Health Minister Choe Chang Sik, who is also president of the (North) Korea-China Friendship Association, visited the Chinese People`s Volunteers in Hoechang County, South Pyongan Province, to dedicate the wreath.

Chinese Ambassador to Pyongyang Liu Hongcai joined a delegation of the production group of the Chinese television drama "Mao Anying" in attending the ceremony.

Written on the ribbon of the wreath was the sentence, "May Comrade Mao Anying Be Immortal Forever." Kim Yong Chun said he visited the grave to remember Mao under Kim Jong Il`s order.

Holding the Chinese envoy`s hands, Kim Yong Chun said at the wreath-laying ceremony that the North will not forget China`s support in the Korean War, according to Xinhua.

The cemetery for the volunteer group is about 100 kilometers from Pyongyang and built in February 1958. Housing the graves of 134 members, including Mao Anying, it symbolizes bilateral ties.

Guo Boxiong, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, visited the cemetery Oct. 23 before attending a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the volunteer group`s entry into the Korean War.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also stopped by in a visit to the North in October last year.

bonhong@donga.com