China ambassador arrives in North Korea in sign of reopening

BEIJING (AP) — China says its new ambassador to North Korea has taken up his post, in a sign the North is reopening amid reports it has been suffering heavily from the COVID-19 pandemic and food shortages. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson says Wang Yajun will help develop the traditional friendship between the “close neighbors sharing mountains and rivers.” China is North Korea’s main source of economic aid and political support, but interactions have been disrupted by travel restrictions imposed in an attempt to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The ambassador’s posting comes as North Korean state media reported that leader Kim Jong Un urged his nuclear scientists to increase production of weapons-grade material to make bombs to put on the country’s widening range of weapons.