Top North Korean official in China for talks after Kim's murder

Beijing: A senior North Korean diplomat today arrived in China, the first visit since Beijing's ban on coal imports from its reclusive neighbour and the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's older half-brother in Malaysia.

North Korean Vice-Foreign Minister Ri Kil-song who started the five-day visit will met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin and Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

The two sides will discuss China-North Korean relations besides regional and international issues of mutual interest, Geng said.

He, however, parried questions on Kim Jong-nam's assassination at Kuala Lumpur airport using the deadly VX? nerve agent, a chemical on a UN list of weapons of mass destruction, and China's decision to halt the coal imports under the UN sanctions after Pyongyang conducted a missile test on February 12.

Coal exports to China were regarded as a life-line for North Korea that is reeling under a spate of UN sanctions.

China and North Korea which share land borders are regarded as close allies.

North Korea is heavily dependent on Beijing for its national security and essential supplies.

The visit by a North Korean official after Kim's assassination on February 13, blamed on his half brother Kim Jong un.

It also appeared to have caught Beijing by surprise.

Kim Jong nam who along with his family lived under the Chinese protection in Macao was killed while he was on his way to the former Portuguese colony.

While the Malaysian investigations into the murder pointed to a well-executed plot by North Korea, South Korean legislators blamed Kim Jong Un for it as part of efforts to eliminate traces of any challenge to his regime from the family.

Kim's murder worried China as he maintained close ties with Beijing, primarily through his uncle Jang Song Thaek, the second-most powerful man in North Korea following death of Kim Jong II, the father of Kim's brothers in 2011.

China is apprehensive that that Kim Jong un is wiping out all the pro-Chinese regime elements.