As North Korea continues to recede from diplomacy with the U.S., Kim Jong Un sent a clear message of friendship to the country's longstanding ally, Beijing: Kim visited a cemetery honoring Chinese veterans of the Korean War and sent a basket of flowers to a symbolic monument, state media reported on Thursday.

Oct. 19 marked the 70th anniversary of Chinese forces entering the Korean War, and Kim honored the occasion by “paying a high tribute” to fallen soldiers at the Cemetery of the Martyrs of the Chinese People’s Volunteers (CPV) in North Korea’s Hoechang County. At the ceremony, the DPRK played both the PRC’s national anthem as well as its own, and officials laid down several wreaths.