China promises aid on security to North Korea

SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Yonhap) -- China will provide "aid materials" for North Korea in
the field of public security, Pyongyang's media said Thursday, the latest
assistance coming from the North's traditional ally.
"A document on the offer of aid materials" was signed Wednesday by North Korea's
People's Security Minister Ju Sang-song and China's Public Security Minister Meng
Jianzhu in Beijing, said the Korean Central News Agency. It gave no further
information about what materials would be provided.
Ju, whose position is equivalent to national police chief in other countries,
traveled to China on Tuesday in the first trip by the country's security minister
to the ally in over a decade.
Among his most recent overseas trips, Ju visited Russia in June 2005 and forged
an agreement to cooperate in countering organized crime.
China's relationship with the North showed signs of strain after the North's
nuclear test in May. Beijing joined punitive U.N. resolutions against the
isolated state.
But Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made a rare trip to Pyongyang in October,
promising large-scale economic aid.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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