¡¡¡¡PYONGYANG, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Top leader Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday pledged to further enhance his nation's traditional friendship with China.

¡¡¡¡The new DPRK leader made the pledge in his reply to a congratulatory message from General Secretary Hu Jintao of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

¡¡¡¡In his message, carried by the official KCNA news agency, Kim expressed gratitude for Hu's congratulations on his elections as first secretary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and as first chairman of the National Defence Commission (NDC) of the DPRK.

¡¡¡¡"It is the steadfast stand of our party and government to invariably develop the traditional DPRK-China friendship provided and cultivated by the leaders of elder generations of the two countries," Kim said.

¡¡¡¡He also conveyed his belief that "the DPRK-China friendship would develop on good terms in the future, too, by joint efforts of both sides as desired by the peoples of the two countries."

¡¡¡¡Kim was elected as the WPK's first secretary on April 11 at a party conference and as the NDC's first chairman on April 13 at a session of the Supreme People's Assembly.

¡¡¡¡In Hu's April 11 message, the Chinese leader congratulated Kim on his election as the WPK's first secretary and reaffirmed China's unswerving commitment to "continuously consolidating and developing the traditional friendly cooperation between the two countries."

¡¡¡¡On Monday, Hu met a WPK delegation in Beijing and said China will continue to make unremitting efforts together with the DPRK to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, realize long-term security in Northeast Asia and promote common development.